Sweet Reward
by Kinky Robot
Summary: A sequel to Guilty Crown. Daryl, Ayase and Yahiro team up to rescue Tsugumi and Shu, but can they even be in the same room when they're constantly getting on each other's nerves?
1. Chapter 1: Old Friends

Because Guilty Crown sunk my fave ship SS DarGumi, I'm writing an expansion of the very short epilogue from the final episode. Seriously, WHAT THE F- HAPPENED TO DARYL? *huffhuff* They better make some kind of OVA! Also includes 3 other minor ships: ShuYase, YahiNon, and (gasp!) SouRisa? Rated T for safety.

Captain Obvious Disclaimer: I do not own Guilty Crown or any of its characters.

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><p>Chapter 1: Old Friends<p>

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><p>"To this year!"<p>

"CHEERS!"

It's a sunny Saturday afternoon, July 20, 2047, and Japan is as peaceful as ever. In a private restaurant, a party of six offers a toast to the future. Ouma Shu, hailed as the Hero of the Fourth Apocalypse, takes a bite of cake. On the cake are the words "Happy Birthday Hare".

"Shu, you have some icing on your cheek," Shinomiya Ayase giggles and reaches for a napkin.

"Thanks Ayase. I got it." Shu then wipes his own cheek with a napkin. Even without his eyesight, he can tell that she was about to do it for him. Ayase, crippled at the age of seven, has been helping Shu cope with life as a disabled person for the last eight years. The first year was the hardest. She started working under the new Japanese government to rescue people trapped in buildings that collapsed during the near-destruction of the world after the revival of Mana. Even with the existence of voids and the Apocalypse virus gone, her Modified Steiner and other Endlaves could still be controlled using genomic resonance. Currently a lieutenant in the new Japanese Army, Ayase helps maintain peace and bring aid to those affected by the disaster.

"I see I taught you well!" Ayase takes a big bite of cake too. She smiles proudly but is quite embarrassed at forgetting her number one advice to Shu.

"Of course, '_I have two hands: One for helping myself',_" Shu gives a thumbs-up with his left hand."_'And one for helping others'_ right?" Giving a peace-sign with his mechanical right hand.

Kusama Kanon's face suddenly lights up, "Ah! I see you're developing dexterity with your new arm! Have you gotten around to writing with it?" After finishing her medical studies, Dr. Kusama Kanon, helped to surgically install Shu's mechanical arm a few months ago. Based on Endlave remote control technology, it can be controlled by the wearer's nervous system. Shu's arm was new prototype given to him by a bio-robotics company under the Kuhouin Group in exchange for an endorsement.

"I'm working on it, but once I do, the first thing I will write are thank-you cards to you and Arisa-san. I'm grateful that you let me be the first to use this technology."

"Don't worry about it. It's good publicity for the product to let THE Ouma Shu be the first to receive a Movement Emulation Arm! Ne, Souta?" Kanon asks Tamadate Souta who works as an editor for an advertising company, also under the Kuhouin Group.

"Yep! THE Ouma Shu has become the face of the new and improved Japan! Speaking to world leaders about peace and looove!"

"And hmm… Speaking of love… Did Arisa refuse our invitation again? For the seventh year in a row?" Kanon cocks an eyebrow at Souta.

"What?" A flustered Souta replies. "Well, she sent me an e-mail this morning saying that she had a big meeting with an investor." Souta put a large slice of cake on his plate. "I think it's just an excuse though. After all these years, she still doesn't believe that we've forgiven her for working with Gai-san."

The room went silent. Eight years ago, Kuhouin Arisa chose to fight with Gai and against her friends. Now, as the President of the Kuhouin Group, Arisa has rebuilt the company her late grandfather founded.

Samukawa Yahiro was the first to break the silence. "My, my, Arisa-kaichou hasn't changed a bit. I wish she could be here so we can watch Souta go beet red every time he tries to talk to her."

The room erupted in laughter.

"Hey hey hey! It's not like that!" Souta retorted while hiding his face with his hands. "She's my boss so of c-c-course I get nervous around her!"

"Shu's blind, but I'm pretty sure even he can feel your cheeks heating up from across the table!" Sendo Tsugumi teases Souta as he tries to conceal his blushing face.

"That's true," Shu laughingly declares has he pretends to fan himself with his mechanical arm.

"Shu! I just had a brilliant idea!" Tsugumi stands up abruptly "Would you like to come with me tomorrow? I would love to show my kids how your arm works!"

"I thought you haven't taken your Teacher's Licensure Exam yet? Who are you teaching?"

Around the floor Tsugumi's little Fyuneru Family chased each other around the table. Tsugumi, three years younger than everyone else was just finishing her degree in Education.

"Aya-nee and I volunteer at an orphanage every Sunday, remember?"

"Oh yeah, Ayase took me there just last weekend. I taught some of the blind kids how to play chess. I can go with you as long as you don't take my arm apart!"

"Blind people can play chess?" a surprised Souta asks with a mouth full of cake.

"Yes, you just have to remember the positions of the chess pieces. I call out the moves and Ayase moves the pieces for me."

"But more importantly," Tsugumi cheekily grins at Ayase, "I miss one visit and you're already replacing me with Shu?"

Now, it was Ayase's turn to blush. "Uhm no! We just ran into each other and I figured it wouldn't hurt to let him tag along!"

"Oh man, what a boring first date!" Yahiro sighs and shrugs, driving everyone into another giggle fit.

"It wasn't a date!" Ayase replies defensively, "And speaking of dates, Yahiro, didn't I just see you with a pretty blonde lady yesterday?" To this revelation, Kanon's head shot up and meets Yahiro's gaze for a split second.

"That was just," Yahiro turns to Ayase, "A client. It's part of my job to suck up to VIPs. I just got promoted to Assistant Director of Finance for Genome Biotechnology, you know."

"So you're too good for homely girls now?" Kanon mutters under her breath.

"Whar wash tha Kanon?" Souta asks with an even fuller mouth of cake.

"Nothing!" she then raises her glass. "I think we could all use a drink."

Shu laughed and raised his glass, "How about a toast to Hare and Inori? If they can hear you two from heaven, I bet they're laughing too."

"What do you mean?" Yahiro and Kanon simultaneously probe Shu.

"To Hare and Inori!"

"CHEERS!"

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><p>It's early evening in the streets of Tokyo. Tsugumi pushes Ayase's wheelchair as Shu walks beside them, the tip of his cane guided by Fyuneru's robot children Fyunee, Fyukun and Fyuchan. Fyuneru himself sits with his "wife" Fyunerin on Ayase's lap.<p>

"That was a great party wasn't it?" Shu smiles as Fyuchan playfully guides him in a zigzag path.

"It was. It's always nice to catch up with everyone even if we only meet twice a year." Ayase strokes Fyunerin's white metal surface.

"And the cake was delicious! I can't wait for Inorin's birthday in six months!" Tsugumi declares with a hop.

"Yes, Ayase you've become really good at baking."

"Really?" Ayase blushes again. "I'm going to bake some cookies for tomorrow. Which do you like better, chocochip or gingerbread?"

"I like both."

"I can make both! Those two! I'll bake two of them. Or or or two of each kind! I mean two hundred! Of each kind! For the kids too! Not just you of course!"

"Shu, I think Ayanee will need your help for such a large batch of cookies!" Tsugumi grabs Shu's hands and places them on the handles of Ayase's wheelchair.

"Wait! Tsugumi! Where are you going?" Ayase exclaimed.

"I'm going shopping! The Fyu-Family can guide you guys home! See ya!" and with a skip in her step, Tsugumi turned the corner to New Shibuya.

Shu feels around with his mechanical hand and inadvertently touches Ayase's cheek. "Leaving a crippled girl with a blind man doesn't sound like a good idea, does it?" Ayase looked up see Shu's face turned to her. Even though his eyes do not meet hers, he can still somehow manage to smile through them. She was a bit glad that he was blind because boy was she blushing at the way he smiled!

"Ayase? What's wrong? Your cheek suddenly became warm."

"Your mechanical hand can detect temperature?"

"Yes, it's one of the new features."

Oops.

Meanwhile, Tsugumi pauses at the crossing with shopping bags in hand. _Geez, why did I say I was going shopping? Now, I spent a week's allowance on all those irresistible headbands and dresses!_ As she waits for the light to turn from "DON'T WALK" to "WALK", she glanced at the big screen on the building in front of her. It was the music video for EGOIST's "Euterpe".

_Oh Inorin. We miss you. And Hare, Ogumo, Gai, and… That boy…_

Suddenly a wave of people carries her forward. The light has apparently changed.

"Hey! Wait! I—"

Just as she thought it might happen, Tsugumi trips over one of her own shopping bags. She shuts her eyes tightly, preparing for the inevitable face plant in the middle of the street. Before she could land on the cold concrete though, an unexpected arm wraps around her waist and helps her up.

"Watch where you're going little girl!"

Tsugumi opens her eyes to meet a pair of beautifully bright amethyst eyes. She watched as the purple orbs expressed a swift progression of emotions from concern to confusion, recognition and finally, surprise.

"Runt!"

_It's him!_ Tsugumi's heart starts racing. She quickly forgets how to breathe. All she could do was stare at his face. She thought he had died in the collapse of the GHQ building! She searched for him. She searched harder for him than she did for Shu, Inori and Gai. She even asked for Ayase's help in probing the debris using her Endlave, but after three whole days of rummaging through the ruins, she figured that he was already dead. Now, eight years later, here he is. Right in front of her, alive and well, and nervously pretending to fix his pale blonde hair.

"Why are you staring at me like that? What is it, runt?"

Confused by his sudden inability to think straight, Daryl Yan just gaped at the beauty of those dark blue eyes and the girl he returned to Japan for. All these years, he couldn't get her out of his mind. He knew he had to see her again, but he didn't think it would be this soon. _I'm not prepared for this! I said I would torment her the next time we meet!_

"Don't walk!" Tsugumi said with a giggle, snapping out of her reverie.

"What? But I-I-I'm not even walking!"

"But we really should." Tsugumi picks up her shopping bags, "Because a bunch of cars are heading straight for us!"

Daryl notices the incoming headlights and car horns blaring. He quickly picks Tsugumi up and runs for the sidewalk.

"Why didn't you tell me the light changed?"

"I did, but you didn't get it! Seriously, you're such a weakling!"

"Weakling? Ha! Guess who's carrying you right now!"

"Hahaha! You?"

Tsugumi teasingly smiles at Daryl as he notices that he is indeed still carrying her. She's so light. He could feel her soft, slim thighs and her deep breathing. He could touch her violet-black hair. He always wondered since the day they met if it would feel as silky as it looks. It does. Then her lips smiled at him just like when she offered him a sweet reward. _Speaking of sweet rewards, those lips…_

"Do you want to put me down?"

_No. I mean, yes! Put her down! What am I saying? Daryl, get your shit together! Um. Okay I'll put her down but I don't. Do! Don't? AAAARRRGGH!_

Daryl accidentally lets go and drops Tsugumi to the ground.

"OUCH!"

Shocked as his mistake, Daryl quickly apologizes. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to drop you! But it was your fault! You were smiling and stuff, you runt!"

"_Smiling and stuff?_ You are not that good at apologies are you, sprout?"

"Actually, I'm not. I think this is the first time I've actually apologized to anyone."

"Is that—"

"True? Of course it's true! Why would I make that up?"

"I was going to say, _Is that a blush I see creeping across your face? _Hohohoho!"

Shocked, Daryl tried to cover his face with his soft golden hair.

"N-n-n-no it's not! Don't look at me like that, you little runt!"

"HOHOHOHOHO!"

"Stop laughing!"

"Alright, alright." Tsugumi stood up and adjusted her dress and metal cat ears. She looked up at the tall boy. No, the tall man. He must be around twenty-five now. He looks so different now. It's not just the white blazer or the blue tie. Something else about him seems more… _Relaxed? Yes, that's the word. Relaxed._

"By the way, I have a name you know. Stop calling me a runt! It's TSU-GU-MI. And you are?"

"Um," He shyly avoids her gaze. "My name is Daryl."

"Daryl, do you have some time to spare? How about we have coffee? I want to hear all about your escape from GHQ!"

"Yes!" _How can I resist her smile? _"Yes! I have some free spare time!"

"That's redundundant!"

Gathering his wits, he takes her shopping bags and with a smirk, holds out an arm for her.

"Is it?"

She hesitates for a moment, quite flustered by this surprising chivalrous gesture, but she also felt a strange warm sensation sneaking into her heart. Before she knew it, Tsugumi found her herself reaching out to touch him.

"Aye!"

Arm in arm, they walked together under the sparkle of street lights. 

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><p>End of Chapter 1: Old Friends<p>

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><p>Comment if you guys want more chapters! BTW this is my first fanfic! =^.^=<p>

Love Always,

Kinky Robot


	2. Chapter 2: Old Enemies

Changing the tense of this chapter from present to past! Sorry for the inconsistency! DX

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><p>=Chapter 2: Old Enemies=<p>

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><p>Yahiro kissed Kanon lightly along the collarbone. Her shirt was unbuttoned, his hair was in disarray, the rest of their clothes were strewn across the floor, and their bodies were sprawled across his bed.<p>

"Yahiro, stop." Kanon moaned into his ear. "I'm still so mad at you." She nibbled at his earlobe.

"And why is that?" He slid his hand under the back of her shirt towards the clasp of her bra.

"Because you were with some 'pretty blonde lady' according to Ayase," she said kissing his neck. "I am so jealous."

"Don't be," He unclasped her bra with a snap. "I told you, that was just a client."

"I know, but when are we going to tell everyone that we're together?"

"We're not together," he chortled as he tried to slide her blouse off completely. "We're just playing around, right?"

Kanon grabbed his hand and hissed, "What do you mean we're just playing around?"

Startled, Yahiro explained, "I don't want to be in a relationship right now. I'm too busy to keep a real girlfriend. You're busy too, right? So why don't we just keep things casual?"

Kanon grabbed her coat. "Casual? We've been sneaking around for months and you still want to keep things casual!" She slipped on her black heels and covered up her undone top with her navy blue pea coat. "You're an idiot."

Yahiro just sat in bed as Kanon tearfully ran out the room. With a loud slam, she shut the door leaving an unsettling hush behind. He stretched out and yawned, reaching for a pack of cigarettes on the nightstand. He lit one up and took a long drag.

"Tch. Women."

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><p>"One iced mocha with whipped cream please~! How about you, sprout?" Tsugumi cheerfully asked her self-conscious companion. She observed that he kept furrowing his eyebrows and adjusting his blue tie as he scanned the menu. <em>He's looks a bit nervous.<em>

"Give me a second, will you? There's so much sugary crap on this menu! Come on. French vanilla coffee? Jasmine milk tea with honey? All this frilly nonsense is disgusting." Daryl frowned as he looked for something decent to order. He took a quick glance at his unexpected date who just so happened to be wearing a frilly brown dress. _Shit, was she offended?_

_Why is he staring at my chest?_ Tsugumi thought as she crossed her arms along the ruffles on her dress. "Hurry up!"

_Damn, she was offended after all. Geez, I'm not going to apologize for something like that! I mean her dress IS frilly! It's not disgusting or anything, but I just made a remark that's all! Not related to her dress! That she actually looks pretty in._ Daryl shook his head rapidly. _Shit, Daryl. Pull yourself together! Be cool. Be cool. Be cool._

He shoved the menu against the waiter's gut. "Just give me a goddamned espresso! You can make something as simple as that in this poor excuse for a coffee shop, right?"

The winded waiter left with a nod and quick bow. Tsugumi raised an eyebrow at Daryl. "I know you hate sweet things, but you didn't have to treat the poor guy like that! He didn't even do anything to you!"

Daryl glared at her. _This runt makes me so mad!_ "You think I care?"

"You should really try being nicer to other people." Tsugumi pouted and looked out the window. She gave out a long exasperated sigh. _What's up with this guy?_ She glanced back across the table and found a sulking Daryl. His head hung low and his eyes seemed consumed in recalling a faraway memory.

"Anyway, tell me. How did you survive the collapse of GHQ?"

"Someone saved me," he replied with a faint quiver in his voice. "I escaped using a one-man submersible pod." He moved the salt and pepper shakers around like chess pieces. "You know, the person who helped me get out of there told me the same thing. That if I get another chance, should be more nicer to people. _'Deep down, you're a good kid'_, he said." He used the pepper shaker to knock the salt shaker over. "Ha. What a joke, right?"

Tsugumi watched with sorrow as Daryl tried to fake a laugh. She couldn't help it. She had to do something to make him feel better.

"Hey, sorry if I made you remember something sad." She tried to comfort him by gently touching his hand, but at this innocent gesture, Daryl jerked back hastily and stared at her with eyes full of terror as if an even more disturbing memory haunted him.

_Why? Why are your hands are so cold! Just like—_

In his mind, he could feel a similar pair of cold hands and hear a small voice yelling, _'Mama! Wake up! Mama!'_ He could see the raindrops trickling down the window that August morning fifteen years ago when he found his mother dead.

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><p>It all happened so fast. His mother, Maria Steiner, was a engineer for Sephirah Genomics. She suffered from severe depression and agoraphobia, a fear of open places. Thus, she worked from home and lived a recluse life, barely leaving her bedroom. Even so, when little Daryl woke her up every morning she would open her wide amethyst eyes, smile gently and say, "Good morning, my darling Daryl." They would have breakfast in bed together before he left for school. She couldn't do the things a normal mother could do, like taking him to the movies or picking him up from school, but that was okay because she loved him more than anyone.<p>

Most of the time, Daryl would come home to find her mother working on her computer. She would turn to him, take off her glasses and welcome him home with a kiss on his forehead. They would have supper on the small table in her room. Sometimes, Major General Yan would join them on the odd occasion when he would come home from Japan. If he was there, they would have a quiet meal. When mother and son dined alone, it would be a lively affair with Daryl telling his mother stories from school and Maria laughing and thoroughly enjoying her son's company. Before going off to bed in his own room, he would watch Maria brush her long platinum blonde hair. When she glanced at him through the mirror and he would feel very happy. They have the same eyes.

Rarely would he come home to find the entrance to her bedroom locked. Sometimes he would press an ear against the antique wood door and hear nothing but silence. _Mama is sick again._ He would have dinner by himself even if his father was home, but no matter what, everything would always be okay in the morning. The door would be unlocked and it would be as if nothing happened.

Then there would be those times when he could hear his mother screaming inside her bedroom. Things would crash and smash. He would hear sheets and curtains being torn apart. The most difficult to bear, however, were the sob-laden shrieks of madness beyond the sealed doorway.

During these incidents, the servants would call for Charlotte and Charles Gespenst, Maria's sister and brother-in-law. Aunt Charlotte was a psychiatrist and only she had the keys to his mother's room. Daryl would listen from the hallway as Uncle Charles restrained his mother. A metronome would begin ticking slowly as Aunt Charlotte spoke softly, "Follow the pen's movement. That's good, Maria. Now you can feel your eyelids slowly getting heavy…" He listened until his aunt and uncle came out of the room with an ornate pen and an old metronome. Aunt Charlotte would carry him and say, "Everything will be okay in the morning." It always worked that way, but there was one time when it didn't.

On Daryl's tenth birthday, he took a day off from school. He woke his mother up. Her eyes were puffy and her face was streaked with dried tears from yesterday's episode. Nevertheless, they spent the day reading storybooks and playing in her room. That evening, they dressed up: little Daryl in a white suit and Maria in a pale gold gown. They had a formal supper with a beautiful strawberry shortcake for dessert. He blew out the candles and said, "I love you, Mama," with the widest grin on his face.

"I love you too, my darling," she sweetly replied running her warm fingers through his blonde hair.

After dinner, Daryl stayed up later than usual still hyperactive from the day's events. He sat near the window of his bedroom playing with his toy robots when he spotted a familiar car cruising down the driveway towards their mansion. He closed the light thinking that his father would surely beat him for staying up too late. He was surprised to find that it was not his father but Uncle Charles who silently entered the house. He sneaked out of his room and into the hallway where he saw his mother open her bedroom door to greet his uncle with a kiss on the lips.

The pitter-patter of rain awoke him the next day. He took a quick bath and dressed himself up for school before skipping across the hallway into his mother's room. He hopped onto the soft canopy bed next to her. "Good morning, Mama!" She didn't move. Her face looked pale but lovely and serene. Her lips were ashen but pursed into a tranquil smile.

"Mama?" He touched her cheek. It felt cold. He took her hand. They were icy and motionless. "Mama! Wake up! Mama!" She wouldn't. He shook her shoulders as hard as he could.

_MAMAAAA!_

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><p>"Hey, what's going on!" Tsugumi shook his shoulders as he stared blankly at her. "Daryl, what's wrong!"<p>

"Why? Why are your hands so cold?" he said, slowly returning to reality.

"It's freezing in here! The air conditioning is cranked up pretty high." She gave his shoulders a playful squeeze. "That's it? You're worried about me getting cold? I'm fine, really." she tried to give him a reassuring smile.

"Is that so?" He took a deep breath, and tried to control the sudden surge of nightmares. He removed his cashmere gloves and offered them to her. "Here, wear these for a while."

Tsugumi graciously took the gloves and put them on. They were too large for her hands but they were so soft. _Ooh… These things must cost a fortune! The textile quality is top-notch!_ They felt comfortable as she placed them on her neck. _They still have his warmth on them._ She brushed his snow white gloves on her cheeks and detected a faint musky lavender scent. _Is this Daryl's scent? It smells rather melancholic yet sweet but still oh so masculine._

"Are you done smothering your face with my gloves?" With his chin perched on a bare hand, Daryl watched her with amusement. _Wow she's been caressing her face for a good 30 seconds now._ This strange behaviour went on long enough to distract him out of his trance and calm down his emotions.

"Oh, I'm sorry! They just felt so wonderful!" She rubbed and pinched her face to disguise the flush forming right on her cheeks.

"I never really thought of that. I just thought they made me look good." He professed with a smirk and a fabulous hair flip.

"You don't say." She impishly grimaced just before their orders arrived. The same waiter Daryl indirectly punched in the gut put Tsugumi's iced mocha in front of her and Daryl's tiny cup of espresso across the table, avoiding his regard.

"Thanks." Daryl shyly whispered, looking away. The waiter smiled and left with another bow. Tsugumi smiled too noting the effort he put into saying one simple word of kindness. She took the cherry sitting on top of the whipped cream of her drink and offered it to him.

"What's this? You're giving me more yucky food?"

Tsugumi knitted her eyebrows together, and forced the cherry closer to his face. "It's a reward for being nice. Just shut up and take it!"

Surprised, Daryl shut his eyes. He remembered the day they met during the school festival, when she made him carry a stack of boxes. Due to his position at GHQ, no one has ever dared to make him lift a finger, much less do manual labour. It infuriated him that a little runt would even attempt to push him around like that, but Tsugumi didn't care. It didn't matter to her who he was when she asked him for help and it didn't matter how much he complained along the way, she still gave him a candied apple. It was the first time in years that someone ever gave him a reward. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even get a nod of approval from his father. The last person to treat him with kindness was his mother, but that was before she left him in the most selfish way possible.

"Say '_Aaah~' _"

"Uuuh," he opened his mouth slightly. With one quick motion, Tsugumi popped the cherry into his mouth. "Now, bite it!" He did so obligingly as she plucked the stem right off the fruit. "How does it taste?"

Daryl opened his eyes to find a blushing Tsugumi. Embarrassed at this gross yet delightful display of affection, he scowled and focused on chewing the cherry. "I hate sweet things."

"If you say so…" she chuckled then took a sip of her drink. "Anyhow, what have you been up to since you escaped? Where did you go?"

Daryl swallowed the cherry. "Yuck!" He stuck out his tongue in revulsion. "Well, I figured I would be the highest-ranking GHQ officer left alive and that I would be persecuted, so I secretly boarded a plane back home to America. I've been running around the world ever since. I lived in Rio, Paris, Dubai, Bangkok, and then Manila where I got the news that the UN accepted my petition for pardon as a war criminal under the defence that I was only following orders from the GHQ big wigs. With my name cleared, I returned to Japan."

"Why?"

"Why the hell not?" He refused to admit that he came back to look for her. _Over my dead body! _"You're asking too many questions, runt!"

"Well, then why don't you ask me a question?" Tsugumi teasingly cocked her head to one side. It must have been difficult running away all those years. She felt bad for him. He must have been lonely.

"Uhm. How have you been?" he timidly asked as he took a sip of hot espresso.

"I've been good. I finished high school at Tennozu Daiichi with my friends. Remember that place? That's where we met."

"How could I forget? You choked me with a large lollipop."

"It was a candied apple! It was delicious, didn't you think so?"

Daryl shrugged. He recalled licking the tasty confection but couldn't finish it. He removed the snack from its thin bamboo stick and chucked it in the trash, but secretly, he still keeps the stick in a box of mementos under his bed.

"Whatever. After high school, I studied to become a teacher and now I'll be taking my Teacher's Licensure Exam next month on the twenty-third."

"Really? That's on my birthday, you know."

"Oh wow! Maybe after the exams we can have a small party!"

Daryl's face became sullen once more, "I don't know. I haven't celebrated my birthday in a long time."

"That's okay! It's never too late to start again!" Tsugumi squealed.

Daryl was stunned to hear this. _Would she really do that for me?_ He kept silent. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Okay. Nevermind. It's a silly idea anyway," she pouted.

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know that I want to know more about you," she was surprised at her own brazenness "and I can tell that you're lonely."

_What?_ He studied her deep blue eyes but he could see nothing but honesty.

"You can't trust me. I tried to kill you once."

"You saved me once."

"I'm your enemy."

"Not anymore." Tsugumi looked into those purple eyes glazed with fear and doubt. "The Apocalypse is over. You and I… No. Everyone. We can all be on the same side now," she held out a gloved hand. "We can be friends."

Daryl wanted to take her hand but he hesitated. _Are we really no longer enemies? Back then, I tried to kill her because I wanted to choose how I felt. When I think of her, I lose control. I lose myself. Who would I be if I wasn't Kill 'em All Daryl? I did all I could to fight away what I felt for her. I didn't understand it. To this day, I still feel like I'm fighting. Can we really be friends?_

He shook her hand and took a chance.

"Yay!" Tsugumi chirped in delight.

"But don't you dare give me another reward! If I eat any more sugary garbage, I think I might just throw up." He reluctantly let go and pretended to fix his hair again.

"Okay no more sugary garbage," she said feeling extraordinarily ecstatic at this unexpected development.

_He is such a mess, but still so damn irresistible!_

* * *

><p>"One hundred!" Ayase exclaimed as she put the last cookie in the large tin. <em>Thank goodness we didn't push through with making two hundred of each kind!<em> She took a small box of extra cookies and wheeled into the space across from where Shu sat running a finger along lines of Braille. "Here are a few extra cookies. Thanks for your hardwork!"

"I should be thanking you! I didn't really do anything to help." Shu gratefully smiled taking the warm box and picking up one piece. "I love the smell of freshly baked cookies." He took a bite of chocochip. "These are seriously delicious, Ayase! Haruka would love this. Hopefully, one whiff will make her forget that I came home so late at night." He smiled anxiously while imagining his childlike stepmother's moping face.

"You're right! I didn't realize how late it is!" she remarked while wiping smidgens of flour off the table. "I wonder where Tsugumi is?"

Shu closed his book and took another piece, "She probably got stuck playing at the arcade." She ran his thumb across the surface. "You know how competitive she can get."

"But I can't help but worry," she crumbled the paper towel and threw it towards the bin. She missed it completely. "Tsugumi's been working too hard." She rolled out and over to the kitchen corner to pick it up. "With her exams coming up, she's been going a little crazy."

"How so?" Shu asked facing Ayase.

"Well, if she makes another little Fyuneru, this house will be filled with them!" She tossed the paper towel in.

Shu laughed and replied, "Yeah, I keep bumping into them. Not a safe place for the visually impaired!" He carefully closed the lid of the box. "Do you think there's something else on her mind?"

"She gave Fyuneru a wife and kids," she moved next to him. "I think she wishes she could be with that person."

"Who?"

"It's a secret!"

Shu smiled in her direction. "I'm glad you're here."

Ayase blushed profusely, "H-h-here?"

"Yes. It's good to know you guys are keeping each other company."

"Ohhh that. No big deal." Disappointed, she manoeuvred over to the refrigerator and places the cooled box of cookies inside. Just then, Fyuneru, Fyunerin and their three little Fyu-kids buzzed and zipped towards the front door. Beeps and whistles greeted a beaming Tsugumi.

"Hi Shu! Ayanee! I'm hooome~!" Tsugumi practically danced into the kitchen. "Oh guys, you won't believe who I ran into!"

Ayase closed the refrigerator door. "Nice gloves."

"What?" Tsugumi looked at her hands. "Oh no! I totally forgot!" She rushed back out the front door.

"What just happened?" Shu asked.

Ayase answered, "I have no idea."

Tsugumi strode towards the ledge of their apartment building. _I hope he hasn't gone too far!_ She gripped the railing and peered over the edge scanning the street below. She spotted a familiar head of blonde hair. He was talking energetically to an elegantly dressed woman. The lady opened up her arms as Daryl plunged in for a tight embrace.

* * *

><p>=End of Chapter 2: Old Enemies=<p>

* * *

><p>Gasp! I'm as shocked as you are! No! My bby Daryl! You're miiine! Huhuhu…<p>

And I know, I know. Yahiro is such a douchebag. But who'd be surprised? After all, he came up with the naziriffic idea of ranking people based on their voids! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed my interpretation of Daryl's background. A monster sob story, ne? But wait, there's more to it than you think!

Thank you so much for the positive reviews! I'm laying out this story for another 3 to 5 chapters which will give me a chance to spice things up with some intrigue and action. Also, you'll be learning more about the "elegantly dressed woman", an original character I'll be presenting in more detail next chapter!

I've got a lot of free time before school starts so expect new chapters every Tuesdays and/or Fridays! Hohohohoho~!

Love Always,

Kinky Robot


	3. Chapter 3: Old Songs

Chapter 3: Old Songs

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><p>The next morning, Shu sat on a park bench. Across the river, the silvery New Tokyo Tower was a shining symbol of Japan's newfound independence. He took in the cool dawn air and put on his earphone. He turned on his music player and listened to Egoist's "Departures".<p>

_I'll never be loved by you again_

_Or needed by you again, either_

_And so here I am, all alone_

Ouma Shu imagined Yuzuriha Inori sitting in a field of flowers covered by a light morning fog, her pale pink hair and dark pink dress in stark contrast against the lush greenery. She turned to him. Neither the iridescent violets nor the dusk blue roses could match the beauty of her face.

_What did you tell me when we parted?_

_The words hung in the air and never reached me_

_I know my dreams and wishes are illusions_

_And yet I cannot give up one them_

He approached her, along the way crushing a few ethereal blooms whose names only Inori knew. Every step released honeyed fragrances all around. In his daydreams, Shu was not blind. He could see everything and, as he kneeled down beside her, he could grasp her hand with the warmth of his own flesh. He raised that fragile hand and placed an unworthy kiss upon the perfection of her skin. "Good morning, Inori."

_You said, "Don't let go, hold onto my hand"_

"_We will always be together"_

_Your hands as I held them were warm_

_And tender_

"Good morning, Shu," she whispered back. "How was your day?" She smoothed her lap, beckoning him to lie down.

He followed suit saying, "We had a birthday party for Hare. Everyone was there except Arisa-san, as usual." He closed his eyes as Inori patted his chocolate brown hair. "Yahiro, Kanon, are Souta are all working hard at their jobs. Tsugumi will be taking her licensure exam next month and Lieutenant Ayase made another delicious cake. Last night, we made cookies to give to the children at Angel's Refuge. They're delicious."

_You always do that, make me angry_

_And then make me cry in the end_

_But when you said "I'm sorry" afterward_

_I always loved the look on your face_

He could feel Inori twirling a strand of his highlighted hair around a nimble finger. "Shu… Remember, when I made you onigiri?" She stopped twirling. "Were those delicious?"

He looked up to meet her inquiring ruby eyes. "Yes, they were delicious." He reached up his right hand to stroke a smooth cheek.

She giggled, "But the shape was weird!" They both laughed heartily, remembering the salty misshapen rice balls.

_Hold me as tight as you can and don't let go_

_I want to be in your arms_

_We'll sleep with our foreheads pressed together_

He sat up and faced her. Quietly placing his forehead against hers, he asked, "What would you like for your birthday?"

Inori glanced down at the flowers on their feet, "Strawberries would be nice, but my birthday isn't until February."

Shu smiled and said, "Well since we just made that up, it can be your birthday today. If that's what you wish."

She shook her head delicately, still leaned against his, "No, it's okay. I like the birthday you gave me. It was the day I was set free."

_Did you know we would never see each other again?_

He held her tight. "The day both of us were set free, Inori." Then in the shroud of morning mist and the fading scent of ghostly blooms, a single tear rolled down his face.

_You said, "Don't let go, hold onto my hand"_

"_We will always be together"_

_Your hands as I held them were warm_

_And tender_

"I miss you so much."

* * *

><p>Ayase sat motionless as she watched from a distance. A single tear drop fell onto Shu's metal hand. <em>How can I even begin to imagine that I could have a chance? <em>She slowly turned her wheelchair around._ After all these years, he still—_

"Ayase? Is that you?" Shu perked up and quickly wiped at his face. "Ayase?"

The chestnut-haired girl moved towards him and touched his knee, "I'm flattered that you can tell I'm around by the sound of my wheels."

"It takes practice," he smiled. "Shall we go?" He stood up to walk when Ayase took his mechanical hand. The metal was damp with either tears or morning dew. "Are you okay, Shu?"

"Yes," he gave her hand a squeeze. "Thank you for your concern."

A blushing Ayase kept her hand in his. "Don't be so polite. That's friends are for!" she cheerfully replied looking up at his calmly smiling face. _Friends, huh? Nice one. _She guided him forward, "Shall we?"

"Of course, but may I please carry the box? It's the least I can do." Shu offered his left hand. Ayase took the box of cookies from her lap and handed it to him. "Are you sure? They're a bit heavy."

"No big deal," he tucked the box and his walking stick under his left arm. "I've carried heavier loads," he chuckled. "Once, I even carried the weight of the world on my shoulders, remember?"

She sneered, "Oh my, your comic timing is getting as rusty as your arm."

"What are you talking about? My guns are brand spanking new!" He let go of her hand and flexed his mechanical limb proudly. "See that? That's pure manliness right there!"

"If you say so, Mr. Muscle! Hahahaha!" She gripped her wheels and rolled herself forward, instantly missing the feel of Shu's hand. Even if it was just a prosthetic.

"So Ayase, how is Tsugumi? Before I left your apartment last night, I heard her running into her room. Her footsteps sounded upset." He asked as he lightly held the handles of her wheelchair.

"I really don't know. She seemed so happy when she first came in. After she rushed right back outside it was like a complete 180," she explained as they went up a wheelchair ramp onto the sidewalk from the riverside park. "Fyuneru was even knocking on her room but she didn't open it. She was still sleeping when I left this morning."

Shu matched the pace of her rolling, "I hope she's okay."

"Me too." Ayase agreed before crossing the street to Angel's Refuge Orphanage.

* * *

><p>Tsugumi stifled a yawn as she listlessly wandered the hallways of Tokyo University. Last night, she cried herself to sleep after she saw Daryl hugging another woman. She turned the corner and found herself face to face with a familiar pair of large breasts concealed under a white lab coat.<p>

"Ah Haruka-chan!" She looked up Shu's fawn-haired stepmother.

"Now, now, Tsugumi," the older woman waved a disapproving finger at her face. "How many times must I remind you to call me, 'Professor Ouma' around here?"

"Aye, aye. Sorry Professor Ouma-chan." Tsugumi joked. "I'm just feeling a little under the weather today."

"I can see that. Your eyes are red and your nose is bit sniffly, too." Haruka pinched her cheeks and pulled at them, "Could it be that Tsugumi-chan just experienced her first heartbreak?"

"EEEEH? Who told you that?" Her face turned a deep rosy shade. "I'm going to kill that Ouma Shu!" She waved a fist out the window.

Haruka held Tsugumi from behind, "No need to blame Baby Shu. I have a sixth sense about these things!" She squeezed the air out of her. "I'm a woman, too, you know. I've experienced the bliss and suffering of first love! Let Momma Ouma help you! I'm sure I can give you some great advice!" She lifted the petite girl over her shoulder and carried her along the busy hallway. People left and right stared at the unusual scene. "Come with me, little kitten! Nyahahaha!"

"Ney! Ney!" Tsugumi held onto her cat ears and struggled in vain. The professor took her victim into her private office. She plopped the red-faced cat girl down on a small couch and pulled an arm chair in front of her. With a flourish she let her hair loose and sat down.

"So who is it, little one? A classmate? A member of the Undertakers? Or is it my own Baby Shu?" She winked mischievously.

Tsugumi looked down at her black sneakers. _What should I say? Geez I'm not good at talking to mothers. Probably because I never knew my own._ She glanced at the wall behind Haruka and saw two old photos: One of her wedding to Ouma Kurosu, and the other of three happy children: Shu, Mana and Gai. _I can't even tell Aya-nee what happened. I've never really shared my feelings with anyone else._

Haruka held Tsugumi's face with both hands. "Tsugumi, I know you never really had a mother." She touched her headband. "But would you mind if you told me what's bothering you?" She slowly took her cat ears off. "You can trust me. Just like how I accepted and loved my stepson, I also grew to care about his friends as if they were my own precious children." She placed the headband on her lap and gave her an encouraging smile.

Tsugumi felt vulnerable without her metal cat ears. Her eyes started to water again. She couldn't hold it in any longer. If crying shoulders are what mothers are for, she was willing to give it a try.

* * *

><p>"She was so annoying! I don't even know why I wasted so much time with her." Daryl complained while munching on a buttered bread roll. An exquisite set of pastries and earl grey tea lay before him in a sunlit patio.<p>

The woman in front of him playfully replied, "Please, not this story again! You've told me about this girl at least a thousand times!" Cascades of long blonde hair quavered with her every movement, and her dark blue-violet eyes exuded a sly charm.

"Aunt Charlotte!" Daryl's own lilac eyes widened at her accusation. "That's not true! I've only mentioned her once or twice."

He checked around for any maids who could be listening in on them. He cursed at himself for bringing her up again. He couldn't help it though because one look at his dear aunt, and he instantly turns into his younger self. It was often said that she and Daryl's mother had the same face but now that she dyed her hair from jet-black to white-blonde, she was a near-perfect image of Maria Steiner Yan. Only her eyes were of a darker hue and of a more understated feline shape, unlike her sister's wide and animated gaze.

"Once or twice this hour?" Charlotte Steiner Gespenst teased her nephew.

Eight years ago, she was surprised to get a call from America that he was still alive and well after the collapse of GHQ. A neurobiologist, she was the one to establish the key principle behind the mechanism of void genome emulation. Her sister years before left behind designs for prototypes of machines controlled by genomic resonance. This new theory she studied, through communications with Dr. Ouma Kurosu, helped build the framework for many studies conducted by Sephirah Genomics under GHQ, but the greatest result of her work were the creation of the Endlave. Sadly, Maria took her own life shortly before the first Endlaves were released for military use.

"Fine, change topic!" Daryl defiantly stood up to grab the last bread roll out the plate of his beautiful confidante. "I've been thinking about what I wanted to do while I'm here." He sat back down and chewed on the roll thoughtfully. "I can't join the Japanese military, but I still want to pilot an Endlave." He swallowed hard and thought back on when he first decided to become a pilot.

After his mother's suicide, he didn't know how to deal with his feelings. He took it out on servants, pets, strangers, and once, even on his own father. Major General Yan became scarce as soon as the United Nations promoted him to Commander-in-Chief of the newly-formed GHQ, tasked in controlling the Apocalypse Virus Pandemic in Japan. But even before Lost Christmas, he was rarely around. His marriage to Maria was a professional relationship. She was a brilliant computer engineer from a noble family, but she was eccentric and withdrawn from society. He needed her skills to help him rise among the ranks, and she appreciated the comfortable life he gave her.

Daryl didn't receive any comfort after his mother's death. Even his Aunt and Uncle suddenly stopped coming over as often as they used to. When his father came home and didn't want to talk to him, he couldn't hold back his frustration. Daryl didn't mean to slap him in the face, but his father still slapped him back twice as hard.

"Why are you being so annoying just because she gave birth to you?" Major General Yan shook young Daryl by the collar of his shirt. "If you want to learn how to deal with pain, become a soldier! Honor your no-good mother by causing destruction with her creations." He laughed a deep and monstrous laugh before throwing the little boy against a wall. "And don't you dare touch me again, son. If you hurt me, I will hurt you right back."

For the first time in his life, he felt lonely.

_Mama said, when Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Charles got married, she felt lonely._

Before he left to join the military, Daryl tried to ask his uncle what happened that night, but Charles simply denied being at the Yan Estate, and told him that the trauma has messed with his memories. Charles Gespenst used to be so kind to little Daryl, teaching him how to ride a bike and taking him to amusement parks. Then after Maria's death it was as if he didn't even exist anymore. Daryl used to think of him as a second father.

"Aunt Charlotte, you think you can let me be your test pilot again?" Daryl stared at his steaming cup of tea before taking a small sip.

Charlotte half-smiled at him. "I'll see if my new toy will be ready for you to play with." Before the battle of the Fourth Apocalypse, it was she who gave instructions to First Lieutenant Rowan to have Daryl pilot the physically-demanding Gespenst Endlave with the Void Genome Emulator. She remembered how Rowan refused to obey at first, but she convinced him that she would never put the life of her own nephew in danger.

"Thanks." He murmured into his cup before getting up with a grin on his face. He snapped a finger and a butler briskly walked in to hand him a white jacket.

"Was that a 'Thank you' I just heard?" She mockingly cupped an ear in his direction. "Goodness gracious, my darling Kill-em-All Daryl is indeed feverish with love!" She fluttered her eyelashes at her nephew. "Are you going out on another date?"

"It wasn't a date!" he turned to leave. "And I didn't say thank you!" he shut the front door with a bang. _Technically, I only said 'Thanks'._

* * *

><p>"So let me get this straight." Haruka crossed her legs and handed Tsugumi a box of tissues. "This boy—"<p>

"Man," Tsugumi protested before she adorably blew her nose on a thick wad of tissues. "He's about the same age as Shu."

"What am I? An old hag?" Haruka frowned jokingly. "You twenty-somethings are all still clueless kids! I believe that twenty-five is the new fifteen, thus making forty-five the new thirty-five!"

"You're already forty-five years old, Haruka-chan?" she discreetly reached for her metal headband. "But you look so young!"

"Heehee!" the forty-five year-old snatched the cat ears back. "Not until I'm done talking to you, young lady! Besides, flattery will get you nowhere." She said as her ego soared into outer space.

"Oh really now." Tsugumi slumped in the couch. She didn't know what to make of her sudden outpour of emotions. She knew she felt embarrassed. Beyond embarrassed. Humiliated! But she also felt a bit lighter.

"Whatever. So this MAN you met when you were in junior high at a school festival was a whiny jerk, but you say that's what made him interesting?" Haruka waved the kitty headband back and forth.

"Yes, he was impossibly interesting." She tried to grasp her moving target. _Not to mention impossibly good-looking. _She giddily thought about how cute he looked with his pale blonde hair and his handsome purple eyes behind those eyeglasses he wore that night that she completely forgot where he's seen him before.

"Uh huh. Then you find out that he's the mass-murdering, spoiled-brat, GHQ pawn, Kill-em-All Daryl Yan, right?" She raised an eyebrow and put the shiny cat ears on her own head.

"Yeah." Tsugumi remembered how horrified she was when she reviewed the surveillance footage from the Roppongi Fort battle. She held Fyuneru tight as she watched the same boy kick down an innocent woman and shoot her down in front of her own son.

Haruka admired her reflection in a compact mirror. "Hey, this kinda looks cute on me don't you think?" She glanced at her obviously gloomy little captive and decided not to wait for a reply. "So then he helps you escape when Gai got resurrected but then tries to kill you when Mana was being resurrected." She took off the silver headband. "You and Ayase defeated him and you thought he died. But last night, you ran into him and you went on a date and decided to start over as friends."

"It wasn't a date!" Tsugumi countered trying to snatch back her treasured accessory. Haruka quickly raised the kitty-band high over her head beyond the small girl's reach, and paused before giving her a look of concern "Then you see him in the arms of some other woman."

Tsugumi withdrew her hands and folded them on top of her black leggings. "Yes. Something like that." She distractedly pulled on the cuffs of her long-sleeved cotton shirt. "I don't know. I'm so mad and sad at the same time! I know I shouldn't be because what I saw shouldn't mean anything to me. We just became friends and suddenly I'm like… expecting something else! I don't know what I'm feeling."

"That feeling, my dear," Haruka placed the silver kitty ears back on Tsugumi's head and gently combed the girl's violet-black hair with her fingertips. "That was your first heartbreak."

Tsugumi blushed and kept silent. At this, Haruka lightly pinched her chin and gave her a compassionate smile. "It's good that you're aware that you shouldn't expect anything, but you don't know who that girl is. What if it was just his mother or sister? You don't know him well enough yet. So I suggest you give this boy another chance."

"Man." Tsugumi grinned, feeling better after hearing Haruka's surprisingly sound advice.

"Whatever," Haruka rolled her eyes and gave Tsugumi a big hug. "Oh I'm such a good mommy! Nyahahaha!"

The office door opened. "P-P-Professor Ouma." A student caught the two women in mid-cuddle. "Here's the draft." He handed Dr. Ouma a piece of paper and paused to stare at Tsugumi. "No, no, Alex. This is not what you think!" Haruka fluttered her hands in disagreement, but the boy seemed caught up in gawking at Tsugumi's shiny hair, slim body, and her pretty face. He stopped when he noticed that she was staring back. "I'm sorry for the interruption." He nervously hand-combed his midnight dark hair down before running away.

"Sorry that was a student working with the university newspaper. They're going to publish an article about me next week." Haruka cast an eye over the document. "Wow, I've never had a student give me a paper copy of their work. They usually just e-mail or submit a memory stick. Are all creative writing majors like this? It's handwritten, too!"

Tsugumi gaped at the open doorway.

* * *

><p>Just outside the gates of Tokyo University, Daryl waited in his brand new convertible. He stretched out his arms and adjusted his mirrored sunglasses. <em>Damn, it's hot today. What's taking that kid so long?<em>

"Aniki!" He heard a familiar voice call out.

"Hey, Alex!" The two purple eyed boys greeted each other with fist bump.

Alex hopped into the front seat next to his taller blonde doppelganger. "Glad you're back."

Daryl messed up the shadowy dark hair of his smaller friend, "Glad to be back. What have you been up to?"

"Not much," The younger boy quietly replied. "School and stuff."

Daryl fake yawned, "Still a boring man of few words huh?" He handed the younger boy a pair of his sunglasses just like his, and winked. "What would you ever do for fun without me?" He revved up the engine and drove away, the fast car disappearing down the street in a loud roar.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 3: Old Songs<p>

* * *

><p>Just a quick shout out to purplesparkz02, ForbiddenSweets, ChaozHeavenz and KyraX who reviewed the previous chapters! And to all my readers specially everyone who added this story to their alertsfavourites, thank you so much! 3

This week's chapter was not as fluffy as I initially planned but it's a nice change of pace. Writing Shu's dream sequence made me so sad! Oh god why did Guilty Crown have to end that way? T_T

Plus poor Tsugumi and Daryl not knowing about how to deal with their feelings. *sigh* So cute.

BTW I love describing Charlotte and Maria. They're both so beautiful! Plus, who is Alex? And why did he call Daryl "Aniki", which means "big brother"? Hmm?

Stay tuned for more Sweet Rewards! Hohohohoho~!

Love Always,

Kinky Robot


	4. Chapter 4: Old Memories

Translation Notes: "Ojou-sama" means young mistress and "Aniki" means big brother.

Yaho! Kinky Robot here with another chapter of Sweet Rewards! Today we have a bit of stone-cold bitching from Arisa, a few balls getting hit, a mysterious interview, and some hot manservice care of Daryl! Enjoy~

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Old Memories<p>

* * *

><p>"Mic test. 1-2-3. Mic test. 1-2-3," a smooth male voice boomed throughout the state-of-the-art recording studio.<p>

"Please pause for a moment," Souta politely said through a microphone, directing a middle-aged voice actor on the other side of a one-way mirror. "I would like to adjust the pitch just a little biiiiiit," he drew the last syllable on as he slowly slid a bar up on the large holographic mixing console in front of him. "There. Now, another mic test please."

"Mic test. 1-2-3. Mic mic test. 1-2," the actor repeated.

"Alright! Just perfect. Now, if you would please begin with the first line in 3… 2… 1…" Souta touched a holographic button, "Recording."

"Founded in 2012, by Kuhouin Okina-sama, the Kuhouin Group of Companies has risen from humble beginnings to become the number one conglomerate in Japan."

Souta sat back and read the script for the audio-video presentation to be shown at the Kuhouin Group's 35th Founding Anniversary. Around him, other people monitored voice input, video output and the soundtrack. The video Souta and his advertising staff put together using photos and film clips of the Kuhouin Group's key achievements throughout the decades was playing on the monitor. He took a quick glance up at it when a photo of Arisa came up. She stood next to her late grandfather during a party from eight years ago, just before the Second Apocalypse.

The actor continued speaking as the slideshow switched to a recent photo of the company's current president. "Under the leadership of Kuhouin Arisa-sama, the Kuhouin Group helped rebuild Japan after the Fourth Apocalypse."

Souta noted how long Arisa's hair has become. She hasn't cut her hair in years so her sandy blonde locks fell well below her waist. The staff often remarked that this was the silk veil of the iron maiden. Her reddish-brown eyes never seemed to smile anymore. He took every chance to try and cheer her up, but he just ends up annoying her every time. _It's a mystery why she hasn't fired me yet._

"Cut, and" he touched the holograph again, "That's take one. You did a very good job, Sato-san, but let's try putting more emotion into it on the next take." He grinned at the man in the recording booth.

"Yes, sir." The actor took his headphones off and took a swig at his bottled water.

_Hahahahaha! Maybe it's because I'm such a talented director! _Souta gave a thumbs up to the actor who he realized couldn't see him because of the one-way mirror. He laughed weakly and scratched his head. Members of his advertising staff by now was used to these little quirks which were made up for by the fact that he actually is a good director with two award-winning television commercials and three hit music videos under his belt.

There was a gentle knock on the door and a woman with black hair tied into a traditional Japanese ponytail entered the room. It was Kurachi, former secretary of the late Kuhouin Okina, and the current executive assistant of Arisa.

"Tamadate-san, Kuhouin-sama would like to see you in her office," she quietly announced before leaving.

"Be right there!" Souta spun around his chair and headed for the door. "Quick break, guys. If I'm not back in ten minutes, please start the second take without me." He gathered his script and passed them to the video editor. "Make sure to monitor the timing of the speaking to the slideshow 'kay?"

Kurachi held the elevator open for Souta. When he entered, she pressed the button for the top floor which prompted an eye and handprint scan. After Kurachi received authorization, the elevator doors closed and they began moving up. The doors opened at last into an opulent black and gold lobby leading to one prominent red door that required another security scan.

"Don't you find all this tedious, Kurachi-san?"

"Yes, but it is necessary for Ojou-sama's safety."

The red door slid open revealing an elegant office decorated with furniture in soft neutral colours, a stark contrast to the previous room. Standing behind a large wooden desk, Arisa looked out at a panoramic view of Tokyo shining in the Sunday morning light. She turned, long straw-coloured hair waving, to find her assistant Kurachi bowing and Souta standing up, looking perky as usual with his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. This, in combination with his plain white t-shirt, is a blatant disregard for corporate attire.

"Why must you always dress like that, Tamadate-san?" Arisa squinted and sat on a large beige office chair. She signaled for him to sit on the chair in front of her.

"Arisa-sempai," Souta bashfully took the seat and replied, "I'm an artist, not a salary man."

_Where does he get the guts to still be calling me 'sempai'? I'm not just his senior anymore. I'm his boss for crying out loud. _Arisa sighed in frustration and handed him a memory stick. "Here are the details for the anniversary party next week."

"Okay," he took out his holographic tablet and scanned the tiny glassy stick to transfer the data. "Saturday, July 27, 2047," he read. "Next weekend, huh?"

"Yes, I would like for your department to layout the invitations. They have to be counterfeit proof. I don't want any gate crashers." She coldly said as her chest tightened at the memory of another good-looking gate crasher who stole her heart.

"Sure, I think our print guys can make that happen," he clicked the tablet closed and handed back the memory stick, "Under one condition."

She snatched back the small device with a scowl. "What?"

"SMILE!" Souta pointed at his cheeks and gave her a wide grin. "Just once. Just a little biiiit?"

"No."

"T-t-then I won't do it!" he declared, secretly shaking at the knees.

"I'll outsource it then," emotionlessly she picked up her phone. "It'll probably be cheaper."

"I thought you didn't want gate crashers?"

Arisa glared at him.

Souta continued, "You can't trust anyone else. That's why you sent for me personally, right?"

She forced a half-smile at Souta's direction.

"Not so hard is it? Don't worry, Arisa-sempai. Just for you, I'm going to do the layout and printing myself," he stood up to leave. "I'll send you a sample after lunch." Kurachi opened the door for him as he strode out into the hallway.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Souta slumped and exhaled. "Kurachi-san! I thought I was going to pee in my pants!" He shut his eyes and rubbed his blushing face with his hands.

"It's alright, Tamadate-san. You handled it well." Kurachi patted him on the back. "I truly appreciate your effort in helping Kuhouin-sama."

He gave her a gratified smile, "I'm just being myself."

* * *

><p>A fast ball shot out from the pitching machine at right at Daryl. He swung the metal bat to meet the ball with force enough to score him a homerun in a real game.<p>

In the next cage, Alex clapped his hands. "That was a 117!" the college senior ecstatically praised him.

Daryl hiked up the sleeves of his plain black shirt and tapped the tip of the bat on the back of a white sneaker. He crouched back into form and swung his body to hit another 117-kilometer-per-hour baseball. He placed a burning warm hand on a red hologram to stop the machine. "That was easy," he bragged, resplendently shaking droplets of sweat off his light blonde hair. "You should try it!" He gave his younger cousin a child-like grin as he reached in his jeans pocket for a handkerchief.

While Alex adjusted the ball speed, Daryl sat down dabbing away at the perspiration on his neck. He's been smiling non-stop since they stepped into Shinjuku Batting Center. Baseball was his favourite game and reminded him of the good old days.

Charles Gespenst taught his son, Alexander, and his nephew, Daryl, the great American sport. The two boys, three years apart in age, grew up side by side like brothers. Daryl was the brave big brother and Alex was the timid little brother. When Daryl was seven, he started playing in little league as Alex, Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Charles, and on one occasion, even his mother cheered for him in the bleachers. In the past there was a time when Maria could still muster up the courage to go outside her house for important events, as long as she was accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law.

Once they even took an overseas trip to Japan to visit the then Major Yan and for Maria to meet up personally with one of her scientific colleagues. Unfortunately, that trip coincided with Lost Christmas. When the family returned home to America, Maria never came out of her room again and her manic-depressive episodes became more frequent. Aunt Charlotte explained that the post-traumatic stress from witnessing the disaster in Japan overloaded his mother's already fragile mental condition.

Still, Daryl and Alex tried to continue life as usual for the next three years, until Daryl's mother committed suicide by overdosing on anti-depressants. Daryl moved to Japan to live with Major General Yan and Alex stayed behind. Over the course of seven years, Charles slowly started showing signs of crystallization, the virus initially dormant and undetected in his body. The technology in America couldn't provide for adequate treatment of virus so Charles had to be brought back to Japan in the year 2038.

Alex was happy to be reunited with his cousin, but something about Daryl had changed. On the outside he seemed to be his regular happy self, but the younger boy knew that his "big brother" was broken. He figured that it had to be his job as a member of the Antibodies. Abandoned by his mother, Daryl would do anything to gain the approval of his father. He shut off his true feelings and focused on being a ruthless killer. He put on a happy face in front of his dear cousin, but fourteen-year-old Alex could tell that deep down he regretted taking so many lives. It was so like him to pretend like everything's okay. The young teen knew his cousin too well to be fooled.

Same still holds true today for the two young men, three inches apart in height.

"You look happy today, Aniki." Alex called to Daryl, letting a ball pass by. "Did something happen yesterday?" The shorter boy swung his bat and hit the next ball.

Daryl unconsciously dropped his bat in surprise and the heavy rod landed square on his foot. _Shit, I can't believe it! _He thought wincing in pain.

Alex put on a New York Yankees cap to keep his jet black hair from falling onto his face. He looked across to the next batting cage to find his cousin's six-foot-tall frame hunched over his foot, his face blushing profusely. _Ah. It must be that girl._

He raised the speed to 122 kph and hit the ball. Daryl noticed this, and with his competitive spirit triggered, set his machine to the same speed. Alex, sent another ball flying and said, "I met a girl this morning."

Daryl in battle mode asked, "Oh yeah?" He set the speed higher before delivering another powerful hit. "A cute girl?"

"Yes," the dark haired boy answered, matching his big brother's setting. "Very cute."

Daryl cranked the pitching machine to the max at 140 kph and got ready. "Me, too," he tapped the bat on his shoe then poised it above his shoulders, "But I've met her before." The machine spit out a blinding fast baseball.

"The girl from the school festival?" Alex shouted while maxing out the speed on his control panel.

"WHAT?" Daryl swung and missed the ball. "Hey, I never told you about that!

Alex on the other hand hit the ball perfectly, sending it to the virtual outfield. He tapped a button on the panel shutting down the machine's engine. "Sorry about that, Aniki." He turned to his infuriated rival.

Scowling, Daryl dropped his bat and shut off his pitching device. He stormed out the batting cage and into the changing room. He opened his locker and grabbed a towel. He sat down and put the towel over his head. He looked down at the white-tiled floor when a pair of black cross-trainers walked up to him.

"You must have forgotten, but you told me about how you met back then. After your dad got killed by the Undertakers," Alex sat beside a silent Daryl. "You went on an undercover mission at my school."

The former Lieutenant held his blonde head in his hands. He tried to remember but there were memory gaps from the terrorist attack at Haneda Airport and to the School Festival, and another one between the time he was commanded to protect Tsutsugami Gai and the time he woke up in a prison cell at GHQ. He felt an agonizing pulse from the device on his chest every time he tried to remember. He clutched at it and tried to think of something else. _Tsugumi._

Alex put a hand on Daryl's shoulder, "Just take a minute to cool down, Aniki." He strapped on his back pack and stood up. "I'm going ahead. I have an assignment to finish."

"Lex?" Daryl called out. The towel slid down to his shoulders when he looked up to see his cousin sliding the glass door behind him.

"Cool down, huh?" He took off his shirt and walked towards a shower stall.

* * *

><p>Yahiro took the stairs up to his fifth floor office from the ground floor cafeteria. The building had elevators but he needed the exercise to clear his mind after last night's fiasco with Kanon. He thought back to his high school days, when he knew all along that Kanon had a crush on him. He feigned ignorance since he didn't really find her all that attractive then, plus he had some bigger things to deal with.<p>

Yahiro's parents were both quickly consumed by the Apocalypse Virus during Lost Christmas and his little brother, Jun, contracted the disease as well. He did what he could to give his brother the treatment that he needed. He turned to dealing the drug Norma Gene under the alias "Sugar" to cover their expenses, but it wasn't enough. He was driven to the edge and sold Shu out to GHQ so that Jun could be cured. Unfortunately, by the time the crystallization reached level 4, there was hardly anything anyone could do about it.

When Jun's life was cut by Shu with Yahiro's own void, he felt extremely mortified that his deepest desire was to end his brother's suffering. He eventually came to terms with this and swore to use his void to save lives.

Yahiro gripped the railing and stopped for a second. _I don't have time for this._ He kept walking up the stairs and opened the door into the fifth floor. He took a quick detour to the men's room where he splashed his face with cold water. He looked back at his reflection in the mirror. His dark amber eyes seemed tired of living.

_I have nothing left to live for. I'm a dead man. I have no needs._

He wiped his face with a paper towel and quickly practiced a smile in front of the mirror. Walking in to the Finance Department of Genome Biotechnology, he noticed a foreign-looking young man waiting in the receiving area.

"You must be Alexander Gespenst." He walked up to him and offered his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Samukawa-san." The dark-haired boy stood up to give the older man a firm handshake, "Please call me, Alex."

Yahiro led Alex into his small office and bid him to take a seat. He took off his brown coat and unbuttoned the top button of his long-sleeved shirt. "So Alex, I received your letter. It's very unusual that a boy your age didn't send an e-mail."

"I'm sorry, Samukawa-san. I hope I didn't cause you any inconvenience."

"No. Not at all. It's very refreshing."

"I just wanted to ask you a few questions," Alex pulled out a notepad and a fountain pen from his backpack. "As you know, I'm writing an article about the lock down of Loop 7 back in 2039."

"Yes, it said on your letter that you were stranded in Tennozu High as well." Yahiro took the seat in front of the purple-eyed student.

"I was in junior high, class 2-C."

"The same year as Tsugumi-chan?"

"Yes, but we were never in the same class." Alex began to quickly put pen to paper. "Samukawa-san, I heard that it was you who initiated the Void Ranking System with the approval of Student President Ouma Shu. Is this true?"

"Yes." Yahiro came up with the idea of ranking people based on their voids thinking that it was for the greater good, but backfired and ended up being the very things that caused Arisa to turn on them and lead to Gai cutting off Shu's arm.

"What was your basis for your ranking system?"

"At first we used a Genomic Resonance Gauge, but we found that it would be easier to just take out a person's void to see for ourselves what it was worth."

"And how did you rank the 'worth' of a void?"

"Starting from the top, we had Rank S+ held by only one person Yuzuriha Inori. Her void had powerful offensive, defensive and evasive capabilities. Rank S voids were mostly strong defensive and evasive types such as the Voids of Hare-chan, Ayase-san, and Arisa-kaichou, while Rank A voids," Yahiro picked up a small pair of scissors. "Like mine, were strong offensive types. Rank B were moderate defensives and evasives, Rank C were moderate offensives."

He used the scissors to absent-mindedly cut a sheet of tissue randomly cluttered on his desk. "Rank D were weak defensives and evasives, Rank E were weak offensives, and Rank F were simply utility voids. These were 'useful' voids but had no actual combat application."

"I see," he scribbled the information down.

"What rank were you, Alex?"

"Rank F." He didn't look up and continued writing with his ornate fountain pen. "Samukawa-san, do you still have the copy of the Void Ranking Database?"

"I'm not sure," Yahiro put the scissors down. "It was so long ago."

"That's too bad." Alex blankly replied.

Just then, Yahiro's phone rang. He looked at the small holographic panel that flashed the name, _Kusama Kanon_.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this call." He strode out into the hallway and clicked open his ringing phone to answer, "Hey, gorgeous."

"Don't you 'Hey, gorgeous' me, you insensitive bastard!" Kanon shouted as she combed her hair in front of the mirror. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm coming over later. I left my eyeglasses at your place."

"I brought them with me," Yahiro leaned against the wall. "Would you like me to pick you up from the hospital after your shift?"

Kanon's face grew pink. "Sure, but we're going to have to talk about last night." She carefully combed her bangs in place.

"If you say so, gorgeous."

"Stop it!" The black-haired girl shouted over the speaker phone while putting on a pair of contact lenses. _I hate how he makes me feel so weak!_ She blinked a few times. "I'll see you later." She said, clicking her phone closed.

Yahiro chuckled and thought that having Kanon around makes him feel a little better. He went back into his tiny office. Alex stood and extended his hand, "Thank you for time, Samukawa-san."

The brown-haired assistant director shook the slim hand, "Are you sure you got the information you needed?"

"Yes," Alex bowed. "It was nice meeting you."

"You, too." Yahiro politely smiled at the boy who left promptly.

_Geez, kids these days just don't know how to slow down._

* * *

><p>Tsugumi came out of the Shinjuku Video Game Arcade carrying a large bunny stuffed toy. Feeling satisfied with her latest high score and her new prize, she thought of celebrating with a nice cold can of Dr. Ginger soda.<p>

She approached the vending machine. "Awww… It's out of stock!" She hugged the pink and white rabbit. "Ah! There's another one in the sports center downstairs!" She playfully swung the fluffy bunny like a baseball bat. As she walked down the stairs and into the hallway, she found the vending machine next to the changing rooms. She held the bunny up and said, "You're so adorable! I think I'll call you Daryl!"

A young man suddenly came out of the changing room, turned around and bumped into Tsugumi.

"YOU!" They simultaneously screeched.

She bent down to pick up the pink Daryl from the ground and slowly looked up at the blonde Daryl. At least in her mind, it felt slow. His blue denim jeans hung low on his slim hips and he was deliciously shirtless. He had finely sculpted abdominal muscles and smooth white skin. Her eyes traveled up to stop at a strange stainless steel ring embedded into his chest. She was obsessed with machines and wanted to touch it so bad.

Daryl looked down at the happily phased out girl who was going to poke at his metal implant. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Tsugumi, with excited eyes, asked, "What is it?"

"Can I explain it to you AFTER I put my shirt on?"

"Huh?" She watched as the tall boy raised his lean but muscular arms to put on a plain black t-shirt. His wet uncombed hair drooped onto his slightly blushing face. He walked over to the vending machine and turned back to Tsugumi.

"It's rude to stare," he looked across the product display. "And please close your mouth. It's so un-ladylike."

The tiny girl snapped back to reality and quickly used the cute Daryl to hide her face from the cuter Daryl. _Oh no! That was so embarrassing! Was I really staring that long?_

"Hey runt, is Dr. Ginger okay with you?" He handed her a can. "You can give it back if you don't want it!"

"No," Tsugumi smiled at him. "It's my favourite!"

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 4: Old Memories<p>

* * *

><p>First and foremost, DARYL Y U SO HOT? I (not literally) got a massive nosebleed from his glorious abs shown in Episode 21. *_*<p>

And yes, purplesparkz02, Alex is Mr. Handwriting! I realized that I had to add a few more original characters because Guilty Crown killed off the most interesting ones. Like Granpa Kuhouin, Kido Kenji and Major Segai. I could even use Dan Eagleman at this point, but he kicked the bucket too. Hmph.

Next time on Sweet Rewards: Two canon characters return and things get shady? Hohoho?

Love Always,

Kinky Robot

* * *

><p>PS. A deep bow to Master Katylar for hisher epic review! Because this is my first fanfic, I figured I could be lazy about the formatting and "write as I speak", but your constructive criticism really helped me realize my full potential. Expect better quality from here on! *salute*


	5. Chapter 5: Old Devices

IMPORTANT NOTES: "Otou-san" in Japanese means "Father" and "Onii-san" means "Older brother."

Also, one quick shout out to Dream Weaver Dili: Thank you for your review! I'd be happy to let you translate Sweet Rewards as long as you credit me and link back to this story. And you know what? My ethnic heritage is actually a quarter Spanish! Pero no hablo mucho español. XD

Now let's get down to business.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Old Devices<p>

* * *

><p>Ayase sat on her wheelchair surrounded by children eating their lunches. It was a beautiful Sunday noon, perfect for a picnic such as this. The flowers bent with the wind and the green, green grass swayed all around them. Behind this picturesque scene loomed Angel's Refuge, a shabby old building which used to be a public school before it served as a home for orphaned children.<p>

She watched over the energetic youngsters. She remembered her own childhood and the moment that changed her life.

Her father, with his long red hair tied back into a ponytail, drove their small beat up car along a mountain road on the way out of Tokyo. It was Christmas Eve, year 2029, and they were going to take a short vacation. He was a painter but not a famous one, which was probably why his wife left him and their daughter for a richer man. Young Ayase had been an ace athlete in her school, and the two of them lived a simple but happy life.

Then it happened. The sky went dark and her father's hands began to transform into dark purple stones. He lost control of the wheel, and the car headed for the road's edge. Ayase screamed and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was in her father's embrace. Their car had collided into a concrete road barrier, and he shielded her from the impact. His pale blue eyes smiled at her one last time before the purple stones completely engulfed his face. The little girl broke down and cried when he shattered into a million shimmering crystals. She suffered spinal damage, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

After the accident that robbed her of the use of her legs and the life of her only family, she was sent to Angel's Refuge. Shibungi back then worked as teacher at the orphanage.

"I hope you don't mind, Ayase," the white-haired man pushed her chair along the sterile hospital corridor. "But we're going to take someone else with us. Is that okay with you?"

She silently nodded as they entered a room. On the hospital bed laid a boy about her age. He had fair hair and, as he opened his eyes to welcome them, she saw that they were an incredible shade of blue. They were as blue as a cloudless midsummer sky, just like her father's eyes.

Shibungi approached him, and sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you ready to come with us, Gai?"

As soon as Ayase and Gai arrived at the orphanage, they made friends with Ogumo, Argo, and the other children who would eventually become members of the Undertakers. It started as a wild dream, but they slowly began to build up their plans for a revolution. Years later, when Kenji, Inori and Tsugumi joined the children's home, their team became complete.

Ayase looked up at the sky that spread itself up above her. It was the exact same hue as the eyes of the two men she once loved.

_I'm twenty-five now, Otou-san. I'm the same age as you were when we had to say goodbye._

* * *

><p>"Knight to E4." Shu whispered to a chubby little boy, who moved the tiny white horse in an L-shape across the chess board.<p>

His opponent, a tall fourteen-year-old boy with hair the same cappuccino brown as his eyes, reached for his own black token. "Bishop to C3."

Shu smiled and declared another move, "Knight captures bishop at C3."

"King to C1." The teenager relocated his king defensively.

"Rook captures knight at C2. Checkmate."

The chubby kid clapped his hands and said, "Onii-san beat you again, Ryo!"

"I can't believe how a blind man can be so good at this." Seishi Ryo picked up the pieces one by one and placed them back on their starting positions.

Shu felt around for a piece with his left hand. "It takes a lot of practice and a good memory. It took me years to learn how." He carefully placed the black queen into what was surprisingly its correct position. "The key is to always think multiple moves ahead to defend your most valuable pieces, Ryo-kun. The goal is checkmate, not annihilation."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." Ryo put the last few pieces in position. "Best of five?"

"No, no, not another game please." Ayase rolled in, her dark auburn red hair swaying. "I can't believe how you guys can enjoy such a boring game."

Shu turned to her, "Sorry, did we take too long?"

"It's okay, but Haruka wants you home by four o'clock and it's almost three-thirty."

"Is that so?" Shu stood up as Ayase guided him. "I'll see you again next week, Ryo."

"You, too." The boy replied.

Ayase and Shu said their goodbyes to the children before they made their way to Shu's apartment.

"Isn't it lame that my mother still gives me a curfew?" Shu walked beside her, tapping his walking stick ahead.

She pushed herself along and imitated Haruka's whining tone, "That's what you get for staying out late, Baby Shu!"

He laughed at her pitch-perfect impersonation. "She sounds exactly like that!"

"I know, right?" Ayase smiled up at the blind man. She looked up at the sky again.

_Ogumo, Gai, Otou-san! Wish me luck!_

* * *

><p>Tsugumi and Daryl took a walk around Shinjuku Gyoen. Once a private garden reserved only for the Imperial Family of Japan, the hundred acre park was opened to the public during the 1990's. Featuring several cedar trees, cypresses, roses, chrysanthemums, and several man-made ponds, it was a patch of paradise in the middle of Tokyo City.<p>

They sat quietly on a bench for a while, shielded from the mid-afternoon heat by a large tree. Beams of summer sunshine filtered through and danced around them with every cool breeze. Daryl drank an ice-cold can of soda as he gazed at Tsugumi. Her deep ocean eyes twinkled with her shiny metal cat ears. She held her pink bunny stuffed toy on her lap and was bouncing it up and down like a baby. Her blackcurrant tresses bounced along, soft and smooth from her double fringe to the very tips.

Daryl asked, "Where'd you get that toy?"

"Where'd you get THAT toy?" She countered, pointing to his comfy black shirt under which was a glowing steel disc.

He placed his hand upon the solid metal on his chest, "Instead of a human heart, I have this." He grinned.

"Come on, Daryl, pleeease. I'm dying of curiosity here!"

"Fine, fine. It's a Void Genome Emulator." He hesitated, remembering how he tried to kill her during that battle. "Connected to Gespenst, it let me use my own void."

"Ah, so that's where the reflecting shield came from!" She intently listened.

"Yes," he nodded. "That's my void. It's pretty practical. Offense is the best defense, after all."

"That's not true. When someone hurts you, you shouldn't hurt them right back. If everyone did that," she stopped playing with the bunny. "Then no one would even try to understand each other."

She took in the beautiful view in front of them. The lush greenery and gleaming skyscrapers in the distance made her wonder what kind of horrors Daryl had to face as a child to think that way.

_Hey, my life wasn't all fun and games, but I stuck through it!_

"So what about that rabbit?" Daryl asked, changing the topic.

Tsugumi waved the plush toy in front of him. She merrily sang, "This is Daryl~!"

The flustered blonde snatched the plush toy away and held it up by the ear. "Why'd you name it after me?"

"It's cute and fluffy just like you!" Tsugumi stole the bunny right back.

"I'm not cute!" He ran his fingers through his damp hair, faked a frown and leaned back on the bench.

Tsugumi pulled out a comb from her pocket. "I was supposed to go somewhere with my friends today, but I wasn't feeling well," she said, brushing through her own pin-straight hair.

"Are you sick?"

"Ney, ney. I just wasn't feeling up to it." She put the comb back in her pocket and remembered what Haruka said. _"Give this boy a chance."_

"Hey, Daryl. Last night, in front of my apartment building, I saw you with a girl."

"Oh that? That was my mother's twin sister." He smiled. "I let her borrow my car that day, so she returned the favour by giving me a ride home. I hate public transportation." He scowled.

"Your aunt!" Tsugumi puffed her breath out like she'd been holding in it all along.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes, I believe that is what you call the sister of your mother."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Really funny." She felt so relieved and flashed him the most radiant smile he's ever seen.

Daryl was caught off guard by her pretty face and the way she looked at him. His heart throbbed as fast as it could. "Must you always look at me like that?" He said in disbelief.

"Like what?"

"Like…" He thought about how confident she was during their first encounter. She still is, but now the flames of her inner strength gave the impression of a brighter glow.

Before he could put it to words, she already figured what he'd say.

Time and loss forged in Tsugumi a quiet courage. She lost so many people throughout her lifetime, but losing him seemed like the hardest. She only just met him, but she saw in him a sliver of warmth behind a cloud of indifference.

It was difficult for her to help Ayase defeat Daryl during the battle of the Fourth Apocalypse, but she heard the agony in his voice as he struggled to fight. At that point, she accepted there was no turning back for him.

Still, she thought, _"If I could have seen that boy just one more time and shown him one more act of kindness, would that have made a difference?"_

She sat sobbing on the ruins of GHQ when she finally gave up on searching for him. She blamed herself for what happened. She knew that there was something she could have done to make him turn around and join them. He saved her from the other Endlaves when a resurrected Gai sliced off Shu's arm. She cried her heart out thinking, "_That meant something, didn't it?"_

She told herself that this time around, she could make a difference. She stared into his confused lilac eyes with her newfound conviction.

Daryl, as expected, said "Like you know me." He leaned his head back and faced the clear blue sky. "Like you're not afraid of me."

"Because I'm not."

"How can you not be scared? Don't you understand? I'm a demon." He massaged his temples as if he was getting a headache.

"I'm a mass murderer. I've slaughtered hundreds, no, thousands of innocent civilians," he spread an arm along the edge of the bench and almost glared at her. "I'm Kill-em-All Daryl."

"Not any more, right?" She smiled.

He was dumbfounded.

"I tried to kill to you!" He shouted, banging his fist in frustration down on the wooden edge. "Damnit! I tried to kill you!"

She laughed like it was the funniest thing she's heard in days.

"Didn't we just have this exact same conversation last night?" She tossed her head back to rest it on his outstretched arm. It felt strong yet soft.

Daryl sat still and didn't say anything. _What is wrong with this girl? What is she thinking cuddling up to me like this?_

He observed how tiny her body was next to his. _How can someone so small have such a big heart?_ She looked so relaxed, and he realized that she really wasn't afraid of him. Not even a little bit.

_How can she just accept me like that? _

His eyes brimmed with tears. He blinked them off, but he still felt an uncontrollable gush of emotion building up inside him. He wanted to thank her or hug her or something. He wanted to do anything to tell her how he felt.

He draped his arm around her shoulders.

"You're impossible, runt."

Tsugumi felt an electric pounding in her heart at this sudden show of affection. She hated his outbursts of rage, but she loved how he kept on trying to be a kinder person.

She gently wrapped an arm around his waist and tapped the metal disc on his chest.

"You too, sprout."

* * *

><p>"Samukawa-san," Charlotte offered a gloved hand to Yahiro. "It was a pleasure to speak with you again."<p>

It was early evening and the two of them stood in front of the Genome Biotech building. Charlotte looked as impeccable as always in a dark pencil skirt and a chic tweed jacket, long layers of her palest blonde hair braided neatly. Yahiro could tell that she was a cautious woman, as he had a hard time charming her into locking down a sponsorship.

"I wish we could talk a little more, Lady Charlotte," he suavely said, barely kissing the black pearl silk. "I would love to go in to more detail on our upcoming projects."

"Yes, Samukawa-san," the older woman smiled. "But as I've said, I'm more interested in your more archaic technologies."

"And as I have mentioned, that's strictly confidential, my lady." Yahiro moved in for the kill. "However, I'm sure that with a healthy investment, we can arrange something."

A black limousine stopped in front of them. A smartly dressed chauffeur opened the door for Lady Gespenst, as Yahiro guided her into the backseat. He shut the door firmly, but before driving away, the window rolled down half-way.

"Young man, I must admit that I was truly impressed by your presentation," her dark mauve feline eyes looking straight at him. "Will I see you at the party this Saturday?"

"Of course, my lady," He bowed deeply. "Arisa-san is a good friend of mine."

"First name basis, huh?" she nodded in respect and rolled up the tinted car window. "Very interesting."

Yahiro watched the car turn the corner at which stood a familiar figure. He realized who it was by her the short dusky hair, her slim arms that were crossed around her ample bosom and her angrily tapping foot.

"SAMUKAWA YAHIRO!" Kanon shouted at her lover as he walked towards her.

"Hey gorgeous," he leaned in to kiss her but got slapped across the face instead.

"Who was that woman?" Barefaced without her glasses, Kanon looked even more intimidating than usual.

"Youch!" He rubbed a sore cheek. "That was just Lady Charlotte Gespenst, a potential investor. Geez, Kanon. Give me a break."

Unconvinced, she shouted louder. "Give me back my glasses!"

He quietly pulled out a pair of thick-rimmed prescription eyeglasses from his pocket and handed them to her. Kanon put them on, and felt better.

"I waited for you at the hospital. You're a full hour late!"

"I'm sorry, dear," he tried to touch her, but she slapped his hand away. "I wanted to send you a message but I was caught up in a meeting."

"Do you even care about me at all?"

"Of course, I do," he caressed her cheek and this time she didn't protest. "We've known each other since we were kids. No one in this world knows me better than you do. I wouldn't give you up for anything."

"Then why don't you want our relationship to go public?"

"I just don't want to ruin the whole dynamic of our small circle of friends," he slowly slid off her glasses and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Bullshit," she returned his gesture hungrily.

They shared kiss after kiss after kiss on the sidewalk until he suggested, "Let's go upstairs." He stroked her dark blue hair. "I'm sure you'd like to come inside my office."

* * *

><p>Back in Angel's Refuge, Seishi Ryo tucked the young ones into bed before retiring to his own room. He quickly drifted off into his usual nightmare.<p>

_Wild flowers grew out of broken concrete_

_This was my playground_

_Roppongi Fort_

_This place used to be beautiful_

_We lived in a nice apartment_

_Father, mother, and I_

_But when Christmas came_

_So did chaos_

_We stayed there living like beggars_

_Father couldn't find a job_

_Neither could my mother_

_But with a roof over our heads_

_We made it work_

_Then one day soldiers came_

_They took my father and blindfolded him_

_They made him kneel down_

_They pointed toy guns at him_

_Was it a game?_

_I needed to go pee_

_So I tugged on my mother's coat_

"_Mama, Mama. Potty!"_

_She smiled and patted my head_

"_Wait a second, Ryo-chan"_

_She kept talking to the soldiers_

_She was saying, "Please!"_

_I think she wanted to join the game too_

_I hugged her and said "Mama!"_

_I was so excited_

_My mother ran to another soldier_

_He had yellow hair like sunshine_

_He wore tight white suit_

_He looked so cool_

_Then he kicked her down_

_He called her a "filthy hag"_

_As he stepped on her face fourteen times_

_He drew a gun_

_He said something I didn't understand_

_Then he shot her_

_My mother lay on a bed_

_Of little white flowers_

_Spattered with blood_

"MAMA!"

Ryo woke up in a cold sweat, startled by the loud gunfire from his past. He noticed that the window was open so he wearily got off the bed. As he latched it closed, he felt an eerie presence behind him.

"Seishi Ryo," a dark-haired boy was sitting on his bed.

Ryo stepped back in fear and met the wall with a thud. As the mysterious guy approached him, something seemed to glow purple under his shirt. Then a strange bluish-white light burst out from what looked like a thin knife he held in his hand.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?"

Ryo turned around and rushed to open the window as quickly as he could, but the shadowy figure moved faster and caught him in a chokehold. Ryo was frozen in terror. The man was smaller than him but was much stronger.

The shadow plunged a shining fountain pen into Ryo's chest causing him to lose consciousness.

"My mother needs your Void."

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 5: Old Devices<p>

* * *

><p>Did he just say "void"?<p>

Last time I mentioned that two canon characters will be returning. Well, I decided to keep one a secret for now, but did you figure out who the other one is?

Ryo is that little boy from Episode 2 of Guilty Crown! When GHQ invaded Roppongi Fort, his mother called him "Ryo-chan" before she ran to ask Daryl for help. As you know, he kicked her down and shot her.

Love Always,

Kinky Robot


	6. Chapter 6: Old Documents

Chapter 6: Old Documents

* * *

><p>The next morning, Tsugumi woke up with a smile. She got up and stretched her arms out above her. Fyuneru, Fyunerin and their three children all whirled around her in greeting.<p>

"Good morning, everyone!" She gave each one a pat on the head and opened the door and to see Ayase beating eggs on the low kitchen counter.

"Good morning, Tsugumi."

"Good morning, Aya-nee," Tsugumi picked up a slab of cheese and started grating it above the beaten eggs. "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" The crippled girl wheeled over to the stove to start the fire and heat up some cooking oil.

"Well," Tsugumi smiled as she stirred the cheese into the eggs. "I saw him again."

"Who?" Ayase swung the pan around to spread the oil.

"That boy from the school festival," she poured the mixture onto the frying pan and it started to fizzle. "Daryl Yan."

"Are you serious?" The red head's eyes stared at her widely, "Kill-em-All Daryl is still alive?"

"Geez, Aya-nee it's been years. You should really stop calling him that." Tsugumi glumly flipped the cheese omelette over.

"Sorry, I can't help it." She turned away and opened the refrigerator to grab a carton of milk. "He did almost kill me," she took a pair of cups and forks from the dish rack as well. "About ten times!"

Tsugumi silently transferred the omelette to a plate.

"Do you still like him?" Ayase positioned herself into the small dining table and put the milk and cups on top of it.

"I really do, Aya-nee," Tsugumi put the plate down and took a seat in front of her closest confidante. "I actually like him a lot more now than before."

Ayase smiled, rolled her eyes, and handed her best friend a fork. "Fine, tell me about how you found him."

Tsugumi's face lit up and she took a big bite of omelette. "Actually, we kind of found each other!"

* * *

><p>Yahiro collapsed into his office couch and loosened his tie. He had a Monday morning loaded with meetings and reports. To make things worse, he had sore muscles from last night's romp with Kanon.<p>

_Ah, that was a really good one._

He jumped to his feet and walked over to the bookshelf in the corner of the room. He picked up a seemingly random hardcover book and opened it. The innocent-looking tome was apparently hollow, and as a shamelessly smutty smile escaped from Yahiro's lips, he took out a small video recorder.

_Let's see just how good it was._

He connected the device to his desk computer and played yesterday's recording. Yahiro installed the camcorder last week. It was probably driven by a lingering sense of paranoia he gained from his drug dealing days, but now he was glad that he had done it.

The video started early during that day so he put the player on fast forward. He watched himself monotonously writing a report on his desk, someone from the accounting department entering a handing him a memory stick, him leaving the room for lunch, and coming back shortly with that purple-eyed university student.

Then he saw something unusual. When he left the room to answer Kanon's phone call, the boy rushed to his desktop workstation with blinding speed.

_What the hell?_

Yahiro clicked replay and set the video speed to normal. Although the kid's speed was not that blinding this time, he still moved pretty fast. He watched as the dark-haired student's fingers darted quickly across the keyboard, plugged in a memory stick, and inspected something on the holographic monitor. Yahiro couldn't make out what he was looking at exactly, but before he knew it, the boy shut off the computer and stealthily returned to his seat a few seconds before he stepped back into the room.

Yahiro panicked.

_Should I call security?_

He grabbed the office phone on his desk, but halfway through dialing the security division hotline, he felt an inexplicable anxiety. He put down the desk phone and grabbed his mobile phone instead. He searched his contacts to find the one person he could trust to figure out what the intruder had done.

"Hello, Tsugumi?" He sat down and worriedly ran his fingers through his light brown hair. "I need your help."

When Tsugumi opened Yahiro's office door half an hour later, she found him slouched in front of his desktop computer. He lifted up his head wearily to greet her.

"Hey, thanks for coming at such short notice."

"No problem," she looked over his shoulder at the monitor. "Did you find out if there's anything missing?"

"No, nothing seems to be missing or moved," he stood up and offered her his seat. "But I was hoping that you could find out more."

Tsugumi grinned and took out Fyuchan, one of Fyuneru's "children", from her back pack. She connected the little robot to the desktop unit and excitedly flexed her hands before rapidly typing in a plethora of codes.

Yahiro whistled, "I just realized that I've never really seen you in action before. That's pretty awesome. Why didn't you become an engineer instead of a teacher?"

"Meh," the girl with the metal cat ears shrugged. "Why would I waste time learning things I already know?"

"I see," he surveyed the icons of bears and bunnies that Tsugumi flipped and dragged across the holographic monitor. "Who taught you how to do all of this anyway?"

"Kido Kenji," she sent a rainbow flying across the screen. "He trained me back when I first joined the Undertakers."

"Sorry, I don't recall ever meeting him."

"Don't worry," she pulled up what looked like a vertical timeline. "You're better off not knowing him."

Tsugumi sat back and scrolled through the timeline. "This is a list of all actions completed on your computer in the past twenty-four hours. I've filtered out the effects of any programs that might have concealed the infiltrator's actions. Whoever it was, he did a good job, but it wasn't good enough."

Yahiro asked, "How so?"

She smiled smugly, "An expert like me can easily find the weakness in his codes and take advantage of them." She manipulated a few buttons on Fyuchan's interface.

"What time did he use your computer?" She asked.

"At about one o'clock in the afternoon," Yahiro closely read what was on the timeline, but he couldn't understand much. "What did you find?"

"He used your computer to hack into the company's main system. He copied some files from the system and from your personal documents as well," Tsugumi pointed to a file name on the screen. "Do you recognize this document?"

Yahiro's eyes narrowed then widened in revelation.

"That's the Void Ranking Database!"

"The one we used in Tennozu High School?" Tsugumi knitted her eyebrows and cocked her head to one side. "What would he want with that?"

"He said he was writing an article about the quarantine of Loop 7 back in 2039. When he asked for this file, I told him that I didn't know where it was. I can't believe he would be desperate enough to steal it from me!"

"Well, he took two other files, both from the main system," she tapped another part of the glowing display. "Do you recognize these?"

"This one is a Memorandum of Agreement establishing Sephirah Genomics as a separate entity from GHQ," Yahiro explained. "The company then changed its name to Genome Biotechnology."

He pointed at another file then shook his head saying, "But I don't recognize this one."

Tsugumi clicked on the unknown file but was met by an angry kitten icon. "This one is heavily protected by a series of passwords and encryptions. Do you want me to crack it open?"

Yahiro walked towards the door to lock it then returned to the desk to push a button. As the window blinds slowly closed, he said to Tsugumi in a low voice, "Just make sure you don't leave a trace."

Tsugumi winked at him and proceeded to breakdown the mysterious file's defenses.

* * *

><p>"Tsugumi!" Haruka excitedly wrapped her arms around the small girl. "It's so nice of you to join us for lunch!"<p>

"I'm not really here for that, Haruka-chan." Tsugumi blushed as she looked down at the older woman's sheer nightgown. She stopped by the Ouma household to consult with the professor on something she found out from Yahiro's hacking situation.

"Nonsense! You MUST try my chicken tomato soup!" Haruka guided her to the dining area where Shu sat sniffing a spoonful of brown goop.

"Go ahead, Tsugumi-chan," the scantily clad woman poured her a bowl of the strange broth. "Have some! Baby Shu, please be a dear and entertain our guest while I dress into something more decent." She padded into her bedroom.

"Shu," Tsugumi whispered as she closely scrutinized the mixture for any signs of life. "I'm pretty sure tomatoes are supposed to be red."

He smiled awkwardly. "I have no idea what it looks like, but it sure doesn't smell like either tomatoes or chicken."

She tucked a strand of deep purple hair behind her ear and bravely took a tiny sip.

"This tastes like steak sauce!" She discreetly grimaced at the soup.

Shu laughed and explained, "I used to cook for the two of us before." He put a spoonful of steak soup in his mouth, struggled to swallow it, then drank a gulp of water. "But I'm glad that she's trying to learn how to cook. Believe it or not, she's a lot better now! She even burned water once."

"She burned what?"

"She forgot that she had water boiling and just left it on the stove until the water evaporated away."

Tsugumi took a drink of fresh water. "I'm so glad I live with Aya-nee!"

Haruka skipped back into the room wearing a large old t-shirt. "So, Tsugumi-chan, how's the soup?" She sat down next to their guest.

"It's very… Uhm… Very interesting!" She sipped some more, secretly wanting to spit it right back out.

"I'm so happy!" The beige-haired woman sprung up in joy, making her breasts bounce happily.

"Anyway, Haruka-chan, I wanted to ask you about something." She took out Fyu-chan and had the little robot project an image on the dining room wall. "Do you recognize this?"

Haruka moved closer to the wall and suddenly became serious.

"Where did you get this, Tsugumi?" She stared at the image of an illuminated metallic ring.

"This morning, Yahiro called me to investigate a hacking incident at his office." She changed the image to a more text-heavy document. "One of the files the intruder got away with was this. I know you used to work with Sephirah Genomics before it separated from GHQ. What can you tell me about the Void Genome Emulator?"

"What's that?" Shu asked his friend.

Tsugumi turned to the young man. "It's a device that uses genomic resonance to replicate the effect of someone's void."

"Is that possible?" Shu then asked his mother.

"Yes," Haruka lowered her head. "Because the heart never forgets its true form."

"Haruka-chan, I know this is implanted into a person's chest. I've seen it on Daryl."

"That's right. Only six units were made." Haruka broke the solemnity in the air by teasing Tsugumi. "So he already took off his shirt for you? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Kids these days just move too fast."

"HARUKA-CHAN! It wasn't like that! I ran into him again and this time he was shirtless because he just came from a shower after batting practice and I was curious because it looked cool!" Tsugumi stammered.

"Hmmm…? Which one looked cool? The Void Genome Emulator or the hot topless guy?" Haruka smirked.

"NO!" Tsugumi stood up and pointed at something on the bottom of the projection. "Besides, what I wanted to ask was this."

Haruka bent down, revealing her lacy pink panties, and read the fine print.

"That's true. The Void Genome Emulator does have a limit. You can only use it for one hour at a time, and on standby, the user can have it on for ten years before it breaks down and causes adverse effects."

"It's been eight years since it was implanted into Daryl right?" Tsugumi frowned. "Does that mean Daryl only has two years until something bad happens?"

"I'm afraid so," she straightened back up and returned to her seat. "And I'm not sure if there's a way to remove it safely."

"That's the same thing Daryl's aunt told him."

"Ah, Charlotte Gespenst?" Haruka nodded. "Yes, she was the one who designed it. Her sister invented the Endlave and was a good friend of Kurosu."

"Really?" Shu perked up at the mention of his late father.

"Yes, those twins worked closely with Kurosu to develop the technology."

"Haruka-chan?" Tsugumi softly inquired. "What could happen once the Emulator breaks down?"

"I'm sorry, Tsugumi-chan." Shu's mother gave the young girl a disheartened look, "He could go into a coma or even…"

The girl's navy blue eyes welled up with tears. She started breathing in dry heaves when Shu put his mechanical arm on her shoulder. He smiled through his blank brown eyes and tried to comfort her.

"Tsugumi, I'm sure there's another way."

The cat-eared girl turned to him and smiled back.

"Actually," Haruka placed a caring hand on Tsugumi's other shoulder. "There is one other person who might know how to remove it."

"See?" Shu gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Haruka spoke to Tsugumi carefully. "We can visit him this weekend. He's been staying in Kurosu's old house in Oshima Island, where the Apocalypse Virus was discovered. Tell Daryl to come with us, but don't tell him who we're going to see. He might refuse to go."

"Why? Who is it?" She wiped away the tears that almost fell from her dark blue eyes.

"The former Antibodies Chief of Intelligence: Rowan Hughes."

* * *

><p>Daryl raised himself up to sit on the edge of his mansion's indoor swimming pool. He panted for air after his rigorous workout as water dripped from his white-gold hair, across his angular jaw, and down to his elegant chin. The droplets glided slowly from the smooth skin on his neck to his prominent collarbone. The drips of clear water then enviously slipped along the side of the barely glowing metal ring framed by the superbly defined muscles of his chest.<p>

His mobile phone rang. He stood up and wrapped a small white towel around his tight black swimming trunks. The clicked the phone open and found that it was Tsugumi's number. He smiled and answered the call.

"What do you want, runt?" He said as nonchalantly as he could, secretly melting inside.

"Nice to hear from you, too, sprout!" Her voice resonated like music in his ears. "Hey, do you want to hang out this Saturday? Let's go to Oshima Island!"

His heart started beating quickly. He nervously patted another towel along his lean physique. "Why would I want to go anywhere with you?"

"Come on, Daryl, please?" She begged playfully, "My friend has a beach house there. Plus, there's a festival at the local shrine on that night. It'll be fun!"

"Y-y-you mean we'll be staying overnight?" His face turned red as his thoughts drifted into naughty visions of them in bed together.

"What's wrong with that?" Tsugumi wondered. "Meet us at the ferry port at five in the morning on Saturday! Don't forget to bring a yukata! Bye!"

"Wait!" He shouted as she cut the line. "What's a yukata?"

* * *

><p>The chamber was dark and cavernous. A woman with long flowing blonde curls stood in front of a pond filled with glowing blue water. Two boys stood by her side. One had locks dark as midnight and the other had milky brown hair.<p>

The young men waded into the water and retrieved the body of a naked woman submerged in the luminous fluid. Her wet skin was ivory white and her hair was platinum blonde. She was in every way the spitting image of the woman who stood before her.

The boys offered the body up to the woman who held out a slender hand towards the face of the motionless figure. She deftly opened its eyes to find that one was a brilliant shade of purple, while the other was an equally breath-taking sapphire.

"NO!"

This imperfection enraged her. She took a knife hidden in the folds of her black gown and slit the other woman's throat causing deep red blood to spurt and ooze from the body's elegant neck into the glowing pool. Even with this violence, the body didn't flinch.

The murderous woman's dark lavender eyes tapered into a devious feline look. She spoke with a deep rumble.

"I want The Doll Maker."

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 6: Old Defenses<p>

* * *

><p>Yes Rowan survived! If I didn't love DarGumi so much, I would totally ship him with Daryl. I gave him the last name "Hughes" because he reminded me of Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist.<p>

And congratulations, Sweet Reward readers! You have reached the halfway point. I've pegged this story to end at chapter 12 for two reasons: (1) This story is already more intricate than I first imagined and I don't want to draw it out into something that would be too complicated to enjoy, and (2) I'll be busy with a part-time job next month! XD

Please rate and review as we go along! I'll be releasing a new chapter every four days.

Next chapter, we're going to have the Summer Festival Episode! I was kinda disappointed that Guilty Crown didn't cover this cliché, but I will! Hohohohoho~!

Love Always,

Kinky Robot


	7. Chapter 7: New Dangers

Chapter 7: New Dangers

* * *

><p>The sun was yet to rise when Daryl ran out of his room. Military duffle bag in hand, he descended the mansion's grand staircase two steps at a time. He made a sharp turn into a dark conservatory to find Charlotte gracefully reclined on a large arm chair. As she read a thick book under an antique lamp, her white blonde waves lavishly cascaded down to the marble floor.<p>

"Hey, Aunt Charlotte, I'll be in Oshima Island for the weekend."

The lady lifted her eyes from her reference and inspected her nephew from head to toe. He wore a white cotton shirt, a pair of blue cargo shorts, and a huge smile.

"Let me guess, my darling Daryl," her long black silk robe trailed behind her. "Going to the beach with your girlfriend?" she asked, her dusky purple eyes teasingly looking into his wide pale purple ones.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Irritated, Daryl walked out into the mansion's entrance hall. "Bye!"

"Aniki," Alex drowsily called from the bottom of the stairs, his shadow-black hair in a bed head mess. "What're you doing up so early?"

"Just going on a trip, Lex." He stopped to further ruffle his little cousin's hair before excitedly rushing out the front door.

"Alexander," Charlotte walked languidly towards her son. Her footsteps echoed in the scarcely decorated foyer. She brushed his cheek with the back of her willowy hand, and continued speaking in a hushed tone.

"You know what to do."

* * *

><p>Tsugumi and Ayase wandered around Takeshiba Pier where a passenger ferry would take them to Oshima Island. The Pacific Ocean was dark but calm, and the sky was blue grey with the Saturday sunlight just getting ready to emerge from the horizon.<p>

"Tsugumi-chaaan! Ayase-chaaan!"

The two girls whirled around to find Haruka running towards them. She glomped Tsugumi and squished her face right between her heavy breasts. After partially suffocating the younger girl, she gave Ayase a gentler hug, saying, "I love your dress!"

Ayase blushed and looked up at Shu, who was wearing a simple graphic print t-shirt, long black board shorts, and a pair of dark shades. She wished that he could see her pretty yellow sundress that accentuated her curves. She sighed, and turned back to Shu's stepmother.

"Thanks, Haruka-san," she smiled. "You look great, too."

"I know right?" The beige-haired woman did a quick pirouette to showcase her grey tank top, pink mini-skirt, and incredible body.

"Thank goodness I'm blind," Shu kiddingly pulled a disappointed face. "So I won't have to see what kind of age-inappropriate outfit my mother is wearing."

"Hey guuuys," Tsugumi raised her hand. "I'm still here you know." Actually, she did feel just a bit insecure next to two curvaceous women. She glanced down at her white V-neck tee, blue short shorts and white flip-flops. She pretended to pretend to frown.

"Don't worry," Haruka gave her a mischievous look. "Someone else will be paying more attention to you later anyway."

Tsugumi covered her face with her small hands. "Guys, don't sell me out!"

"Huh?" Shu pondered out loud.

The three women chorused, "It's nothing!"

At that moment, a black limousine pulled up in front of the pier and a dashing young man wearing cool silver sunglasses stepped out. He approached the group slowly and shyly placed his shades on top of his pale blonde hair.

"Um," he mumbled. "Hi."

Tsugumi stood by his side and introduced him.

"Guys, this is Daryl Yan."

"Who is wearing the same outfit as you," Haruka humorously noticed their matching white tops, blue bottoms and silver head pieces. "That's so cute! Did you two talk about this?"

"No!" Daryl furrowed his brows in discomfiture.

Tsugumi's cheeks reddened lightly at the professor's observation, so she decided to just continue with the introductions. "This sharp-eyed lady here is Haruka-chan."

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant Yan," the older woman held out her hand.

"You too, Dr. Ouma," he hesitated before shaking her hand. "And please call me Daryl from now on."

"Hey you," Ayase coarsely spoke.

"Aya-nee," Tsugumi warned. "Please don't—"

"Let me just get this out of the way," the red-head rolled up to the tall man. "I don't trust you."

Daryl looked down at the girl in a wheelchair. He tried to speak but the crippled girl fiercely interrupted him.

"And I don't want to hear any excuses or apologies from you," Ayase glared up at him with her hazel eyes. "But you should know that I'm willing to give you a chance. On one condition…" She motioned for him his come closer.

Daryl reluctantly bent down as Ayase gripped the collar of his shirt and quietly hissed in his ear.

"If you break Tsugumi's heart, I will break your skull open," she released him from her grip. "Got it?"

He straightened up and glowered down at her. Infuriated, he desperately closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. As soon as he felt centered, he offered his hand.

"We have a deal."

Ayase victoriously smiled at him and took the olive branch. "I'm Ayase, by the way."

Tsugumi exhaled stridently. The air was so tense just a minute ago, that she thought they would spark up a Fifth Apocalypse. "Anyway, Daryl, this is Shu," the cat-eared girl led him to the brown-haired man.

"Ouma Shu," he held out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet the faceless bastard."

"Ironically," Shu's hand searched around thin air until he found Daryl's. "It is you who is faceless to me now."

"Holy shit!" The taller man waved his hand in front of Shu's face. "You're blind!"

The sightless man chuckled at the puzzled blonde. "I lost my vision after GHQ collapsed."

"Oh geez," Daryl felt relieved and laughed as well. "I would feel really bad if the guy who kept defeating me turned out to be blind the whole time!"

Tsugumi happily watched the two boys. She was glad that they were getting along so far. "Alright!" She clapped her tiny hands. "Let's go get tickets!"

"Tickets?" Daryl scoffed. "There's no way I'm getting on that floating hunk of scrap metal." He picked up his mirrored sunglasses from the top of his head to put them back on and walked away.

"Wait, Daryl!" Tsugumi ran after him. "Where do you think you're going?"

He strode down the marina scanning the handful of boats on the dock. He stopped in front of a large white yacht and inhaled deeply.

"This is my ship," he beamed at the cruiser. "I've been travelling around the world with her for the past eight years."

Tsugumi couldn't believe it. The boat was a gorgeous snowy white colour and twelve magnificent meters long. Painted along the hull was the vessel's name.

"Maria," she said to herself.

"That was my mother's name," he loosened the thick nautical rope that held the boat docked abeam. He then jumped on board and laid out a plank bridge.

"It may be hard to believe, but," he offered to guide Tsugumi across the wide bridge. "I'm as good a sailor as I am an Endlave pilot."

The cabin was equipped with the latest mapping and communication systems. Daryl stood at the helm steering the yacht on its course along the swell and rhythm of the ocean. He always felt comfortable when he was in control, whether it be a boat, a car, an Endlave, or his own emotions.

Lately, the latter hasn't been cooperating.

His entire life, he worked to gain the approval of his father. He assumed that if he could make Major General Yan proud of him someday, he would be worth something. It was the only purpose he had ever known, so when he caught him swapping spit with his secretary, he went mad.

_How could some random woman receive this kind of attention from you! _

Not once did he ever receive a word of congratulations or even a simple pat on the head. He only got punches to the gut and slaps across the face. Even after all his efforts to become the best GHQ soldier, he never really mattered to him. The one thing that defined his existence had been a lie.

After the death of his father, for the first time in his life, he was finally free to decide what he wanted to do. He was still a soldier. He thought that continuing to be the best was a good enough goal for now. He seemed like he had a good plan and full control over his life.

Then he met her.

He didn't understand what happened. In a single moment she made him feel important. Not the importance other people placed on him because of his position or his value as a pilot, but the importance of just being exactly who he is.

She made him feel like he mattered.

His emotions slowly got the better of him. He lost control. He didn't know what to do with his beating heart, so he decided to channel those feelings into the only thing that made him "himself", and that is destruction.

After escaping from Japan, he sailed around the world running away from the UN. With the Apocalypse Virus gone, he felt a peculiar satisfaction from wandering in places where no one knew who he was. Maybe because deep inside, he was still figuring it out himself.

Still, he couldn't find a place he could call home.

"Daryl?"

He turned around to find Tsugumi right behind him. He shook the reverie out of his head and turned to the holographic navigation screen. He busily punched in the longitudinal and latitudinal points for Oshima Island Harbour and adjusted the boat's speed to a comfortable sixty kilometres per hour. He set the ship on autopilot and glanced at the estimated time of arrival.

"We'll be there in an hour," he said. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," she walked up to the control panel and crossed her arms behind her head. "This interface looks so dull. You know, if you let me, I could modify this to look more interesting."

He let go of the steering wheel and stood next to her. He took a mental note of how cute she looked. Her simple white shirt hugged her petite figure in all the right places and her shorts showed off the shape of her cute derriere. However, the most stunning of all these things was her happy smile.

"There's no way I'll ever let you put teddy bears and kittens on my boat."

"Hey," the little hacker poked his side with a tiny finger. "Never underestimate the power of cuteness! Hohoho~!"

"Stop it!" He poked her back, and soon enough they were engaged in an all-out tickling match.

Meanwhile, cerulean blue water shimmered as the first few rays of light crawling from the distance. On the ship's deck, a crowd of three drank cups of hot chocolate while enjoying the early morning. Ayase and Shu sat side by side on the stern when Haruka excitedly pointed at the water behind them.

"Dolphins!"

"Where?" Ayase looked over the edge and held on to her wide slouchy hat to keep it from being taken by the wind. She watched as the dolphins weaved their magic in and out of the crystal clear sea. She reached out to one and it happily let her run a finger across its moist grey skin.

"Shu!" She took his left hand. "Try touching them!"

"Okay," he let her lead his hand into the water. A cheerful dolphin came up to them and nuzzled his palm with its bottlenose. "Wow! It's so smooth!"

Ayase smiled at how happy Shu was to meet the charming creatures. It always brought her great joy to help him experience new things despite his handicap. It was the same thing he did for her when he let her use her own void.

"This is amazing," Shu gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Their fingers were wet and intertwined. "Thank you."

"You know, children," Haruka wedged herself between the two and put an arm around each child. "There's an old legend saying that lovers who are visited by wild dolphins will stay together forever."

Ayase and Shu's faces turned into identical shades of pink.

As they approached their destination, Daryl and Tsugumi laid out on the ship's bow, breathless from tickling each other half to death. They didn't say anything for a while but it was a comfortable silence spent watching clouds roll by.

"You know what?" Tsugumi sat up and a gentle off-shore breeze wound through her long indigo tresses. "For some reason, you make me feel like a kid again."

Daryl sensed her eyes on him and wondered how the ocean could have copied their hue. He knew he felt the same way, but he didn't know how to say it.

"I didn't have much of a childhood," she continued. "I never knew my parents. They died when I was really small. I went from one foster home to another, but I never felt at home anywhere. I didn't have any friends. Maybe it was because I made strange inventions all the time. The other kids probably thought I was too weird."

"You still are," he said, his amused amethyst eyes looking up at her dark sapphires.

_He can be so spoiled and arrogant sometimes, but he can be funny and sweet, too,_ Tsugumi said to herself.

She gazed down at him. His handsome face and pale golden hair made him look like a gallant prince straight out of a storybook. Giving in to her fascination, the young girl bent down to draw her face closer to his.

His bright purple eyes widened in alarm. _What the hell is she doing?_

Her silky straight hair draped to one side and he could smell the scent of ripe oranges wafting off them. He almost surrendered to the moment when they heard a loud beeping sound coming from inside the cockpit.

"We're near the waterfront," he stood abruptly. "I have to steer the ship manually."

Tsugumi laughed and faced the horizon. Oshima Island emerged in the distance as she giggled off what almost happened. _He's so cute when he's embarrassed._

Daryl slowed the yacht down parallel to the nearest dock. He took a thick line of nautical rope and jumped on to the wharf. His triceps strained as he tied it securely with a sailor's knot, while his stomach strained from the butterflies tumbling within it.

* * *

><p>Yahiro put his dinner jacket on while looking at his reflection. He wore a formal tuxedo required by the dress code stated in the invitation Souta sent him. He rolled up a sleeve and glanced at his classy wristwatch.<p>

_I still have to pick up Kanon._ He combed his light mocha hair and wondered why she wanted to meet-up at Tokyo Aquarium of all places.

_She's so demanding._ He smiled to himself.

After primping in the bathroom, he paced across his apartment to grab his car keys.

"Looking for these?"

He jolted in surprise when he found a woman sitting on his couch. Backlit by the morning sun, she idly played with the keys.

"I didn't hear you come in, Lady Charlotte," He stood frozen in panic. "You seem to be hiding some mysterious skills."

"I'm a woman who has lived," she tossed the keys in the air and caught it with a vicious grip. "I have plenty to hide."

"What brings you to my humble home then?" Yahiro wanted to escape but he was wary of what she might be capable of. "Is it to convince me that your son didn't steal confidential information from Genome Biotechnology?"

"Alexander is an amateur to say the least, but his true talent lies in," she paused. "The more creative arts."

"What do you want?"

She smiled devilishly. "As you may know by now, your company holds two of only six Void Genome Emulators ever made. I would like you to acquire them for me."

Yahiro needed to buy time to plan an exit strategy. He further inquired, "What would you do intend to do with them? Voids disappeared along with the Apocalypse Virus."

"The mind and body may forget," her hypnotic feline eyes drew him in. "But the heart will always recall its true form." She fingered the broken children's watch that served as Yahiro's keychain. "You know how it feels to lose a sibling. Am I right, Samukawa-san?" She threw the car keys at the terrified young man.

He took a pensive step back as he caught his keys. He looked down at the small blue time piece that he gave his little brother right before Lost Christmas.

"I will let you go for now. However," Charlotte turned her back to face the window. "Should you decide to cooperate, I can use the Void Genome Emulator to bring your brother back to you."

Yahiro tried to walk as calmly as he could and declined her offer.

"My brother is at peace now, Lady Charlotte. Bringing him back to life would only cause him more pain."

* * *

><p>The five travellers arrived at a traditional Japanese house surrounded by a simple garden.<p>

"Remember this place, Shu?" Haruka lovingly guided her son up the porch stairs.

"It smells familiar," Shu carefully hiked up the steps. "Reminds me of a lot of things."

Daryl and Tsugumi carried Ayase's wheelchair up the short steps. The blonde looked around and asked, "This is where we'll be staying?"

"You got a problem with it?" The auburn-haired girl quipped.

"Nothing," Daryl rolled his eyes. "It's... How should I say it? Quaint."

Tsugumi pushed Ayase's chair and smiled approvingly at Daryl. She felt anxious at how he'll react to the house's current resident though.

"Haruka-sensei?" A man's voice called. "Is that you?"

Daryl stopped at the familiar voice. Haruka approached the boy and gently steered him into the bedroom where Rowan Hughes lay on a hospital bed. The middle-aged man smiled at his former comrade before asking, "How long did you sit in the elevator crying like a baby?"

"I didn't cry at all, you idiot!"

He did. For a good ten minutes, he kept pushing the every button on the elevator panel to make it go back up. It stayed put with the door permanently opened into the lowest basement level. He could see the submersible pod through his blurry eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to leave.

"I can't believe you're still alive, you lucky bastard," Daryl smirked.

"Barely!" Rowan laughed.

"I found him in the rubble of GHQ," Ayase rolled in. "When I used Steiner to pick him up, I thought he was a dead body. To my surprise, he started coughing up blood."

"Man, those bullets hurt," he smiled weakly. "The doctors had to take out a chunk of my right lung, a slice of liver and an entire kidney. Now I can't run a mile to save my life. I guess what doesn't kill you doesn't always make you stronger."

"I knew the UN and the Japanese government would eventually arrest him," Haruka explained. "So I man-napped him and let him live here."

"And it's been a good life," he said as he took a green beret from the nightstand and put it on. "I have a job working online. My daily routine consists of walking to the local market, growing my own vegetables, and cook my own food. I feel like a retired expat around here."

Daryl saw that he should be around thirty-five but his physical condition made him look like he was older than Haruka. He felt sorry that he was the cause of it. Tears welled up in his eyes.

Haruka noticed this and signaled for Ayase to leave. The girl took her cue and wheeled out of the room.

"We'll leave you two to talk," the professor smiled at them. "Rowan-kun, please brief Daryl on the situation."

Daryl blinked away the waterworks. "What situation?"

"Take off your shirt," the cheeky former Antibodies intelligence chief winked at him.

"Did the doctors remove half of your brain too?"

"Just show me the Void Genome Emulator, please?" Rowan false begged Daryl.

The blonde unwillingly raised the hem of his white polo shirt to reveal the softly glowing device embedded into his chest.

"Would you look at those abs!" The brunette whistled and patted his own belly. "Damn, I'm so out of shape."

"Shut up," Daryl puckered his brow. "You were never in shape."

"You have a point," Rowan inspected the metal ring carefully. He took a holographic tablet computer from his bedside and connected some wires to the implant. It shone brighter and sent a mild electric shock through the younger man's body.

"Ow!" Daryl reeled in pain. "Just like the good old days, huh?"

"But unlike the good old days, you could seriously bite the dust this time," Rowan worriedly said as a few charts and graphs popped up on the monitor. He detached the wires and the light on the device waned.

The former pilot rolled his shirt down and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Have you been using it?"

Daryl gave him a confused look. "That would be impossible, right? Voids don't exist anymore!"

"Not exactly," Rowan kept his eyes on the tablet. "It replicated the power of the Void Genome, but with many limitations. A true genome holder can conjure a physical manifestation of a person's heart. That no longer exists."

He stopped to get up from his bed and gingerly walked towards a cabinet in the other side of the room. He pulled out an old revolver and took one shot at his former comrade.

Fortunately, Daryl drew own his gun and shot a split second faster. He felt a sting in his chest as the bullet unexpectedly shattered in midcourse, forming a familiar network of hexagonal panels that reflected the other bullet back. Having anticipated this, Rowan was already crouched down on the floor when his bullet pierced a hole through the wall behind him.

Tsugumi quickly ran into the room followed by the others. Her eyes darted to Daryl looking horrified and clutching his chest.

"No!" She rushed by his side and pushed away his hand. When she saw that he wasn't injured, she turned to Rowan who was getting up from the floor.

"Connected to Gespenst, that device allowed you to draw out the effects of your own Void. However, given a medium such as the gun your just fired, you can still channel that power." Rowan held out his hand to help him up.

"Genomic resonance is the human life force quantified," Haruka added. "Endlaves and other equipment like Shu's prosthetic arm are controlled using the same principle to a lesser degree."

Daryl took the bespectacled man's hand and stood up to face him. "So you're telling me that I'm using my own life force to power this thing?"

"Yes," Rowan answered. "And it could run out within the next two years."

* * *

><p>Kanon stood in front of a large glass panel at the Tokyo Aquarium. People passed by and stared at her as she waited in her dark blue ball gown. She ignored them and watched the myriad of colourful tropical fishes swimming inside the large tank.<p>

She dredged up a memory from her school days when she once took a horoscope's advice. She stood on this very spot waiting for the very same person. She knew very well that she couldn't blame Yahiro back then. He stopped going to school then because he was running to save his sick brother from being put down by GHQ.

He was her childhood friend and first love, but she could always only look from a far. Even in their current relationship, or whatever it's called, she still felt like he was being distant.

"I guess, time and again," she said to herself and placed her hand on the cold glass. "Things don't always work out the way you want them to."

"You think so?"

Yahiro stood behind her. Kanon blushed at how dapper he looked in his tuxedo. They were alone in the dark tunnel illuminated by the blue glow of the underwater tableau. It was as romantic as she imagined. It was the perfect moment.

"Kanon," Yahiro solemnly looked into her dark brown eyes. "I'm leaving."

Her heart broke into a million jagged pieces. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm in trouble," he answered. "I can't tell you the details, but I'm going to have to run away again. I just wanted to say goodbye this time."

"You don't have to say goodbye," she frantically begged. "Take me with you. I don't care what kind of danger it is. We can face it together!"

"I don't need you," he turned to walk away.

She couldn't accept it. She ran to him, her dress fluttering around her, and embraced him from behind.

"I could be everything you need if you just let me try."

Yahiro sighed heavily. He wasn't sure if he needed her. He wanted her companionship but, more than that, he wanted to protect her. He spun around and gave her one last kiss. It was a soft and bittersweet.

"Goodbye, gorgeous."

In that instant, a great explosion shattered the glass panels, engulfing the ill-fated lovers in a cruel surge of bottled ocean.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 7: New Dangers<p>

* * *

><p>No! Yahiro and Kanon please don't die! T_T<p>

Sorry I pushed the summer festival event to the next chapter. I wanted the finale of this one to have more impact. Anyway, stay tuned for a confession of love. Or maybe even two?

Love Always,

Kinky Robot


	8. Chapter 8: New Feelings

There are a lot of people asking me if this is really my first fanfic. Yes, it is, but I've written other things too. Most of them are research papers though. I'm a biology major so I literally write for a living. XD

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: New Feelings<p>

* * *

><p>A long clear tone from a prayer bell rang through the quiet night. Incense hung in the air as mother and son kneeled to say a silent prayer in front of the Ouma family altar.<p>

"Today was the perfect time to visit Oshima," Haruka straightened up her yukata, a kimono made of cotton and usually worn during warm summer evenings. It was bright orange with yellow camellia flowers printed all over.

"Just in time for the Obon Festival," Shu stood up wearing a plain dark teal yukata that once belonged to his father. On the small wooden altar lay tablets inscribed with the names of ancient ancestors as well as two mementos of the recently departed: Kurosu's broken eyeglasses and a silver cross that belonged to Mana and Gai.

Haruka noticed the look on her stepson's face and adjusted his brown obi cloth belt slightly. "I'm very proud of what you've accomplished, Shu, but if there's something the matter, you know you can always tell me."

Shu thought of telling her about his daydreams with Inori, but choose to keep it to himself.

"I'm fine, Haruka," he smiled. "Thanks for asking."

On the other side of the sliding door, Daryl sat on the porch in his navy blue yukata. Hearing their conversation made him think of his own mother. For so long his father bad-mouthed Maria for having an affair with her sister's husband that Daryl started to think ill of her too, but the thing he hated her the most for was the fact that she committed suicide on the night of his birthday.

"Sulking again?"

Rowan approached Daryl wearing a moss green yukata with vertical stripes. He sat down next to him and looked out at the moonlit garden. Daryl just hung his head low and said nothing. The man in glasses continued speaking.

"Obon is a festival for remembering the deceased and celebrating life. Were you thinking about your father just now?"

"No," Daryl quietly answered. "My mother."

"You know what?" Rowan smiled. "Maria was the first person to believe in me."

Daryl was quite surprised and asked, "You knew her?"

"Yes," the brunette remembered. "When I was seventeen I wrote a program that became part of Endlave technology. Many others rejected my idea as something useless, but your mother saw its potential. Before she died, she told me to join GHQ and keep an eye on her creations. I became a GHQ officer to help people, but I ended up causing so many deaths instead."

"That's too bad."

"It's okay," Rowan stared up at the full moon then placed his hand on Daryl's head. "I guess I made up for it by protecting her most precious creation."

Before he could figure out how to thank his old comrade, he was distracted by a pretty girl walking towards them.

"Are you guys having a yaoi moment?" A mischievous grin spread across Tsugumi's face.

Daryl's bright purple eyes widened in absolute horror as he felt the hand on his head grip tighter. The emerald-eyed Rowan slid his other hand inside the blonde boy's kimono.

"Come on, Daryl, how about some fanservice?"

"WHAT THE HELL, ROWAN!" Daryl broke free and staggered backward only to knock his head hard against a wheel.

Ayase wore a red yukata with pale pink cherry blossoms. This time it was her turn to look down at the lanky frame sprawled on the wooden floor.

"Hey!" She shouted, secretly revelling in the fact that she moved her chair forward just so his skull would hit it. "Watch where you're going!"

Daryl frowned at the abuse, but forgot all about it when he heard Tsugumi laughing. She held onto her wide blue obi belt and giggled with abandon. The tiny birds for which she was named were printed all over her violet yukata. They seemed to flap their wings with every chuckle. _She looks so beautiful,_ he thought.

"Waaait~ Don't have fun without us~!" Haruka whined as she slid the door open, arm in arm with a smiling Shu.

The three pairs made their way to a local shrine where the Obon festival was being held. Tsugumi and Daryl challenged each other to carnival games like goldfish scooping and ring tossing while Ayase and Shu enjoyed the delicious food and the sound of drums that set the merry atmosphere.

The adults however had a different notion of fun. Haruka and Rowan sat near the main shrine, happily drinking shots of Japanese rice wine called _sake_.

"Look at those crazy kids, Rowan-kun," an obviously inebriated Haruka observed her son and his friends. "I miss being so young and carefree!"

Rowan, despite having consumed twice as much _sake_, remained completely sober. He smiled serenely at the drunken woman.

"No need to worry, Haruka-sensei. You still look quite youthful."

"Thank you very much!" She flailed her arms around and cheered, "It's a beautiful night to fall in love! These kids should be falling in love!"

"Haruka-sensei," Rowan impishly hiked up his eyeglasses making them sharply reflect the festival lights. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Haruka gave him a naughty grin.

"I think I am, Rowan-kun."

The two grown-ups ran off into the woods screaming, "It's spying time!"

* * *

><p>Back in Tokyo, the Kuhouin Annivesary party was in full swing. The opulent ballroom glittered under the light of large chandeliers. Champagne overflowed left and right as lavishly dressed guests twirled across the dance floor to a quartet of strings.<p>

In the middle of the festivities was Kuhouin Arisa.

Souta watched her waltz with one man after another before bravely cutting in to steal her away from a particularly lecherous shipping magnate.

"For once, I'm glad to see you," Arisa rolled her eyes at her previous partner.

He led her along the shimmering dance floor saying, "I heard down the grapevine that he's eyeing you to become his fifth wife."

"Disgusting," the dark honey blonde scowled.

"A man can dream!" Souta whirled her around and dipped her low, making her laugh unexpectedly.

He smiled and admitted, "I told myself that if I can't make you crack a smile, I'll definitely make you laugh." He looked into Arisa's red mahogany eyes. "Mission accomplished."

The tall girl stopped dancing and glowered at the short haired boy. She was surprised to see him wearing a tuxedo, but not even that could distract her from his annoying remark.

"I'm sorry," she turned around and walked away.

Souta felt dejected as he sat back down on his table. He drank a flute of champagne and thought about how he and Arisa were going through the same pain. He caused Hare's death and she caused her grandfather's. All he wanted to do was open the door of her heart so they could share that guilt. He hoped that someday they could heal each other.

He finished the bubbly and decided to try again.

* * *

><p>Ayase and Shu took a break from the festivities by strolling to a view deck next to the shrine. Ayase looked over to the reflection of a full moon on the water. This was the place where Shu took out Souta's void after saying <em>"Inori is my—!"<em>

"Come to think of it," Ayase asked the brown-haired boy. "What was the continuation of that sentence?"

"What sentence?"

Ayase deepened her voice and imitated him. "Inori is my—!"

"Oh that," Shu laughed. "I don't know. At that time I wasn't sure yet, but if you ask me now, I would say that Inori is my love."

The crippled girl regretted asking the question. _Might as well pile it on,_ she mused.

"Hey Shu," she was nervous as hell. "Have you ever thought of loving someone else?"

"You mean, eventually getting married and starting a family?" Shu placed his mismatched hands on the view deck's railing. "Not really. My life is comfortable just the way it is now. Even if none of us are related, I think of Haruka as my real mother and you and Tsugumi are like sisters to me."

Ayase couldn't take it any longer and figured that should go ahead and lay down all her cards. She gripped her wheels and bumped Shu's leg.

"I can't believe how dense you are!" her voice quivered. "I've been trying to show you all these years what you mean to me and I'm still just a sister to you?"

"What?" Shu bewilderedly rubbed on his sore calf. "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, Ayase."

"What I'm trying to say is," she took a deep breath and yelled. "I like you too much and you should take responsibility for making me feel this way!"

Shu stood motionless for a while, trying to process his dear friend's confession. When Ayase started to sob at his silence, he went down on bended knee in front of her and took both of her hands in his.

"I like you, too."

Nearby, a pair of figures crouched behind the bushes.

"Daddy Rowan," the busty woman whispered to the man in a green beret.

"Yes, Mommy Haruka?"

"Our children are growing up so fast~!"

"I agree. It's such a joy to watch young love blossom!" Rowan said while looking around. "But I'm more interested in how that other couple is doing,"

"Hmm, I guess we can leave this pair to make their own magic," Haruka grabbed Rowan by the arm and dragged him away. "Let's go!"

"But there's something you need to know," Shu looked up at where he thought her face should be. "In my dreams, Inori is still with me."

"Well," Ayase wiped away her tears. "It's normal for you to miss her. You loved her so much."

Shu shook his head. "You don't understand. This is the first time I'm admitting it to anyone, but I talk to her."

"I talk to my father, Gai and even Ogumo sometimes, too."

"But you see," he lowered his head and voice. "I talk to her like she's still here. I make believe that we're having the kind of relationship we never got to have. It wouldn't be fair to you if I still feel this way about her."

Ayase roughly snatched her hands away of his gentle clasp and glared into his empty brown eyes.

"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you can't accept my feelings because you have an imaginary girlfriend?"

"I'm sorry, Ayase, but you deserve the truth."

"That's sick, Ouma Shu," she rolled away in disgust. "That's really sick."

Shu kneeled there for a while listening to the sound of distant drums. _Maybe I really am sick. I'm so pathetic._

As he stood up to follow her, he heard an ominous set of footsteps behind him. Ayase used to say that people will try to take advantage of his disability, so he learned how to use his other senses to detect danger. He spent years training in different martial arts to effectively defend himself blind and one-handed.

When a hand grabbed onto his shoulder, he used the attacker's own force to send him flying forward with a shoulder throw followed instinctively by a grappling hold.

The masked assailant realized that he greatly underestimated his target. But having the advantage of the most severe military training and real fighting experience, he fought to free one hand and swiftly chopped a pressure point on the back of Shu's neck, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

><p>Arisa marched into a room, locked herself in and lay down on the king-sized bed. She rumpled her gorgeous silver designer gown, but she didn't give a fuck. Closing her eyes, she instead thought of Tsutsugami Gai.<p>

She imagined him in the white tuxedo he wore on that party years ago when they first met. In her mind, he took his jacket off and kissed his way up her long smooth legs. It felt so real and she enjoyed the lucid fantasy until she realized that it WAS real.

Her eyes shot open to find a woman with blonde hair and pale blue eyes on top of her.

"Lady Charlotte," she calmed down at the memory of Gai's blue eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"You suck at letting people spoil you," the older woman placed her hand on young girl's head. "I just wanted to help turn your dream into reality."

Arisa remembered Gai telling her the exact same thing. She became addicted to the stare of those sky blue eyes and slowly drowned in them.

* * *

><p>"Eat it!" Tsugumi waived a candied apple at his face.<p>

"Not this again," Daryl grimaced at the bright red confection. "I hate sweets. Plus, you already licked it! I don't want to have to share with a runt like you!"

Tsugumi pinched his cheek. "Are you worried that it would be like an indirect kiss?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Daryl blushed. "I just don't want your germs to infect me."

"You are so rude!" She pouted and walked away.

Daryl wanted to run after her, but he felt incredibly annoyed. He roamed the festival grounds instead looking for a distraction.

"I think you should apologize to her," Rowan appeared to his right.

"Who the hell gave you permission to spy on me?"

Haruka appeared to his left. "We weren't spying! We were just looking out for our children!"

Daryl nearly gagged at the strong smell of alcohol in her breath.

"We are not children!"

"You say that, but," Rowan draped an arm across his shoulder and weighed him down. "Aren't you the one being a little childish here?"

"I concur," Haruka did the same and added her weight. "Aren't you just making excuses?"

"It's none of your business!" he broke away and walked faster.

"It is my business," Rowan's voice suddenly turned serious. "I risked my life to save yours because I knew that, deep down, you were a good kid. You just wanted to matter to someone. I thought that a wish like that was worth protecting."

Daryl stopped in his tracks when Rowan shouted, "But now I see that you're just wasting your time protecting yourself from the uncertainty of a life with the girl you truly love!"

"Don't be scared, Daryl," Haruka handed the young man a pair of paper boxes. "Just have faith and follow your heart."

Tsugumi found her way to the riverside where a small crowd gathered to release floating lanterns. During Obon festival, it is believed that the ghosts of dead relatives visit the living world.

She watched the festival of lights meander down the river and scatter out into the dark ocean. She thought about who would visit her from the spirit world. The parents she never knew? Gai, Ogumo and Kenji?

Then she remembered the first person she ever learned to trust.

_How could I forget?_

Tsugumi was four years old when Lost Christmas happened. Her earliest memory was of her younger self playing with her dolls while waiting for her parents to come home. Days passed, but her parents never came back. She was hungry so she ventured out of their tiny apartment. She was shocked at the chaos and destruction around her. She had nowhere to go and ended up wandering the streets.

She spent weeks stealing whatever food and water she could get her tiny hands on. She became a strange little street urchin, dragging along two stuffed toys: A yellow cat and a pink rabbit. They were tattered and torn but, alone in a world where not even other ragamuffins can be trusted, they were her only friends. As long she had them, she would be okay. She kept a stiff upper lip and continued living. She looked forward to the happily ever after she always heard in fairy tales.

When a group of bullies took her friends away from her, she cried and cried and cried in a dark alley littered with trash and other junk. Blurry with tears, she spotted a shiny contraption in the corner of her eye. She picked it up and found that it was a rice cooker. The round white metal thing had black lines running across its seemingly smiling face.

The young waif opened it up and saw that it was filled to the brim with fresh warm rice. It was the first thing she had eaten since losing her dolls and this blessing helped regain her strength. She named her new friend Fyuneru, and bit by bit she picked up whatever scraps of metal and electronics she could find to turn it into a moving robot. She found that she had a natural talent for inventing things.

Fyuneru became her partner in crime as they shoplifted and pickpocketed their way across Tokyo. One day when she used the robot snatch an old lady's bag. A GHQ soldier saw what happened and crushed Fyuneru under his feet. With her long dark hair flying behind her, the little orphan rushed in to hold her broken doll.

When the soldier brutally picked her up to arrest her, the old lady interrupted saying, "I'm very sorry, officer." She took the tiny girl in her arms. "My granddaughter is such cheeky little bird. She pulls pranks like this on me all the time."

The old woman's wrinkled face smiled at her kindly and asked, "You didn't mean to hurt me, did you, Tsugumi-chan?"

_Tsugumi _is what the Japanese call the robin, a small migratory bird with a sweet song. The little girl has long forgotten her real name along with the face of her parents, but she thought that _Tsugumi_ was had a nice ring to it. She shook her head sheepishly and bowed her head in apology to the GHQ soldier. He apologized in return and let them be.

"Where are your parents?" the woman asked. The girl remained speechless.

"What is your name?" Still no response.

"Is this your friend?"

At that question, Tsugumi burst into tears. Fyuneru looked destroyed beyond repair and she despaired at the thought of losing another friend.

The old lady took her hand and said, "Come with me, Tsugumi-chan. I know someone who can fix him up."

They arrived at a big old house covered with vines. Children were playing all around the overgrown garden and each one stopped to greet the woman. As they walked inside, another group of older kids ran to embrace her. A thin boy with a scar on his face wrestled with a large boy for the old lady's attention. One of them was a red-haired girl in a wheelchair pushed by a blonde boy with blue eyes.

A green-haired boy, the only one who was about her age, held on to the blonde boy's coat and stared at Fyuneru with a maniacal grin on his face.

"Everyone, this is your new sister, Tsugumi-chan." The old woman introduced her then tried to take the robot away from her.

"Don't worry, Kenji-kun can fix your friend."

"I can fix him myself," the little girl defiantly resisted.

"You can trust me, Tsugumi-chan," she smiled at her again, making her let go.

The old woman turned out to be the founder of Angel's Refuge Orphanage. She became Tsugumi's first teacher and treated her with equal measures of discipline and approval. The young girl admired her greatly and years later, as the old lady, lay on her deathbed, Tsugumi promised that she would someday become a teacher just like her. She wanted to give other children the confidence to make friends and be themselves.

She wished she had made a lantern to honour the soul of her great mentor. She glanced around to look for the stall that sold them when she saw Daryl walking towards her. He was carrying a pair of glowing paper boxes.

"I just thought you might want one," his face looked handsome in the radiance of the lamps. "You can give it back if you don't want it!"

Tsugumi received the shining raft with a smile. She crouched down on the dock next to the flowing river. Daryl followed suit and bent down next to her. His hair took on a golden gleam from the lights drifting by. She said a quick prayer for her teacher and released the lantern.

"Japanese people believe that humans come from the sea, so these represent the souls returning to water," the dark blue-eyed girl explained. "Who will your lantern guide back to the spirit world?"

"I don't know."

"There must be someone you want to let go," Tsugumi looked at him. "Your loneliness must come from someone leaving you behind."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw it the instant that we met. Truth is, I've always been lonely too. That's how I can see it in your eyes."

Daryl stayed quiet for a while before blurting out, "My mother killed herself on my tenth birthday."

Tsugumi intently listened.

"That's it," his white gold hair fell onto his face. "My mother died. Pretty lame huh?"

Tsugumi caressed his chin with a gentle hand and pressed her lips softly onto his. Daryl was surprised, but he faced his fears and held her in his arms. They kissed slowly and tenderly, sharing each other's pain and making them go away.

"We're going to celebrate your birthday after my exams, okay?" she rested her head on his shoulder as they sat gazing at the river lights. "From now on, I'll make sure you have happier birthdays."

"Then, I guess," his pale lilac eyes glowed with determination. "The one I want to guide to the other world is _me_. I'm letting go of the _me_ who hated my parents, the _me_ who enjoyed hurting people and the _me_ who doubted my own heart."

He set his lantern adrift and watched the light of his dark past join the other souls in their journey to the sea.

"Go to hell, Kill-em-All Daryl!" He called out to the distant lamp with a happy smile on his face.

Tsugumi beamed and felt proud that she finally made a difference in his life. She thought of giving him another reward but opted to tease him instead.

"By the way, was that your first kiss?"

"Of course not!"

It was.

* * *

><p>Two figures watched the scene unfold from the shadows. One calmly observed that the other was gritting his teeth in rage. The angry brown-eyed stranger moved in to attack the lovers on the dock. He drew his gun and shot the blonde man in the back. He fell into the river and the girl with violet-black hair jumped up and screamed in terror.<p>

The masked man raised his gun to shoot her, but in one unexpected motion, she struck the weapon off his hand with a snap kick. She used a powerful roundhouse kick to hit his head and a push kick to force him back. However, the other masked attacker punched her with a solid blow to the gut and knocked her out completely.

Shu and Tsugumi were tied side by side and lay unconscious on the deck of a small motorboat. The brown-eyed masked man revved up the boat's engine to escape when someone appeared out of the water and climbed onto the craft. With a bloody shoulder, Daryl pulled his gun to shoot the two assailants, but the angry man on the steering wheel made the boat tilt to one side.

Daryl stumbled and the second man took this opportunity to tackle and hold him down against the ship's edge. The blonde man struggled and ripped off the attacker's mask to reveal a familiar set of amethyst eyes. Before Daryl could speak, he was quickly clipped across the face with the cold barrel of a handgun and shoved off the boat to drown in a river of lights.

The dark haired boy sat on the deck exhausted when his phone rang. He clicked it open to answer.

"Do you have the Doll Maker?" The caller asked.

He gasped for breath before saying, "We also have the King's Heart."

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 8: New Feelings<p>

* * *

><p>Shit just got real.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9: New Allies

Chapter 9: New Allies

* * *

><p>Arisa slept soundly. Her dark blonde hair lay across the pure white cotton sheets, tangled and moist with sweat. Charlotte sat on the edge of the bed and scoffed at how the young lady was so easily ensnared. As the Kuhouin Anniversary Party continued in full swing in the hotel ballroom downstairs, the two of them had their own private party in the lavish penthouse suite.<p>

She held an elaborately-carved silver mirror to her face. She deftly took off the pale blue contact lenses she wore to bait her prey and ran a bony hand down her luscious white-blonde hair. Violet eyes shining in the dark bedroom, she stared deeply into the mirror and admired the creamy ivory skin, perfectly arched eyebrows, high cheek bones and full sensual lips she shared with her twin sister.

"You are me and I am you," she whispered. "For long as I live, you can never die."

* * *

><p>Ayase wandered around the festival grounds looking for her other companions. After what Shu just told her, she could really use some of that <em>sake<em> the old timers were enjoying earlier.

"Unbelievable," she muttered and took out her mobile phone to dial the professor's number. She waited for the line to connect then heard a familiar cartoon theme song ringing nearby. She wheeled into a grove of trees to follow the sound. When she came closer, she found two kimono clad bodies lying on the ground near the river.

"Haruka-san!" Ayase rushed to the scene to find Haruka unconscious and Rowan writhing in pain on the riverbank. "Mr. Hughes, what happened?"

Rowan struggled to raise his head but could only clutch at his stomach in agony. The young woman propped him up against a tree. When he tried to speak, an aching cough took the place of words. Instead he pointed to something across the wharf.

Ayase hesitated to leave them alone, but she saw the urgency in the man's green eyes. She wheeled along the waterfront and screamed in horror when she found Tsugumi's metal cat ears abandoned on the old wooden dock spattered with blood.

In the distance, she saw a figure straining to get out of the water. She recognized the man's navy blue yukata right away.

"Daryl!"

* * *

><p>Kurachi arrived in front of her mistress's hotel room, summoned by her protective instincts. Although the tall woman expected that Arisa would have to eventually take a break from pretending to be the head of Japan's largest conglomerate, she had been away from the party for too long.<p>

She swiped the universal access card that opened the door.

"Kuhouin-sama, the prime minister would like to speak with you."

No one replied. She searched the expansive suite but her ward was nowhere in sight. Arisa's things were left untouched on the drawers and the bed was unmade. She felt the bed cover. It was still warm.

Just then, her mobile phone rang. The holographic screen displayed an unknown number.

"Where did you take Kuhouin-sama? State your demands and—"

"Hello? Kurachi? I'm sorry to disturb you. This is Haruka. We need your help."

* * *

><p>"Hey Yahiro! Where are you, man? I saved a spot on the table just for you two. Call me back ASAP!"<p>

Souta slid his phone shut after leaving a message for his old classmate. His black leather shoes squeaked against the shiny granite floors as he walked along the hotel corridors looking for Arisa. From afar, he saw a familiar woman clad in a black suit, her jet black hair styled in a traditional Japanese ponytail with red ribbons.

"Kurachi-san," he approached her. "Are you okay?"

"Kuhouin-sama has been kidnapped," the bodyguard declared pressing her red lips into a thin line. "Tamadate-san, I will need your assistance."

Souta was shocked, but managed to pull himself together enough to ask, "What can I do?"

"What are you prepared to do?"

* * *

><p>Yahiro slumped against the wall outside the Intensive Care Unit where Kanon was facing off against death. His tuxedo was damp, crumpled and torn from the bombing at Tokyo Aquarium. His reflexes kicked in fast enough for him to hold his breath and he held her tight in the violent deluge. The lack of oxygen supply to her brain caused her to go into a coma.<p>

Yahiro used the phone at the nurses' station to call his friends. Shu's number was out of reach so he tried calling Souta. He answered in an instant.

"Hey! Where are you? I'm coming to pick you up right now!"

"I'm at the hospital," his deep voice trembled. "There was an accident."

"What!" Souta shouted at the other end of the line. "Okay, we'll be there in ten minutes!"

Precisely ten minutes later, his short haired friend came running across the hall with Kurachi trailing behind him.

"What happened?" Souta sat beside him in the waiting area and rubbed his hunched back for comfort.

Yahiro kept his tear-stained face buried in his broad hands and spoke through gritted teeth, "We were at the aquarium and someone tried to kill me. Kanon drowned and sh—" He choked as fresh salty droplets poured down from his square chin. "She won't wake up."

"Do you have any idea who could have done this to you?"

"Charlotte," Yahiro slowly looked up with wrathful amber eyes. "Charlotte Gespenst."

Souta glanced at Kurachi with surprise. She nodded back in agreement.

"It seems that we share a common enemy, Samukawa-san."

"Arisa-sempai was kidnapped," Souta explained further. "Security cameras caught Dr. Gespenst entering her room and exiting half an hour later. Arisa-sempai was with her, but she seemed different."

"Perhaps she was drugged or hypnotized, but Kuhouin-sama certainly did not look like she was completely in control of her actions." Kurachi paused to place a hand on Yahiro's shoulder. "Furthermore, I received a call from Haruka-chan."

"Shu's mother?"

"Yes," she looked at him with serious almond eyes. "Shu and Tsugumi were taken as well. They've tracked down the chip in Shu's robotic arm to an abandoned GHQ base in Oshima Island. She suspects that Dr. Gespenst and her lackeys might be planning to use void power in an attempt to bring about a Fifth Apocalypse."

Souta gripped Yahiro's other shoulder.

"Remember that time Shu gathered us when he needed help to rescue Inori? When all rode in that jeep and he used our voids one by one? He needs us again, but this time we can fight on our own."

Yahiro wanted to ask how, but then he caught sight of a doctor coming out of the ICU.

"Doctor!" He chased after her. "How is she? Is she awake? Please tell me she's alright."

"I'm sorry," the petite lady proceeded to give him the details of her fellow doctor's condition. "In a nutshell, she is in a stable state, but she is yet to wake up." She took note of the two people waiting for Yahiro. "If there's somewhere you need to go, Samukawa-san, we can take care of Dr. Kusama. She has always been kind to everyone in this hospital."

Yahiro considered this for a while then bowed deeply at the lady doctor. "I leave her in your capable hands."

"We will do everything in our power to make sure that she gets well soon," the small woman replied with a smile.

Yahiro turned back to Kurachi. "If we leave now, we can catch the last ferry to Oshima Island."

"Ferry?" Souta interrupted. "No way. How do you think we got here so fast? There's a chopper on standby at the roof right now."

Yahiro managed to smile at Souta. "And how are we supposed to defeat a bunch of void users?"

It was Kurachi's turn to interrupt.

"We'll fight fire with fire."

* * *

><p>Haruka sat by Rowan's bedside to monitor his health. The attacker hit the bull's eye when they punched the ailing man in the gut. She herself was no better off nursing the trauma on the back of her head with an ice pack.<p>

The former intelligence officer stirred.

"Rowan-kun," the professor gently pushed him down. "Please don't try to get up."

"I'm fine, Haruka-sensei," he smiled weakly. "Please don't keep me on this bed."

"Alright," she replied with a smile of her own and helped him up. "How are you feeling?"

"I've seen better days," he slid on his silver-rimmed eyeglasses. "How are the children?"

"Ayase is shaken and Daryl has a gunshot wound on his left shoulder."

"He'll survive. He always does."

"More importantly, he recognized one of the abductors as his cousin, Alexander Gespenst."

"Any relation to Lady Charlotte Gespenst?" his green eyes inquired.

"Her son," Haruka handed him a clean white polo shirt and a pair of khaki pants. "I called in reinforcements. In the event that she might be attempting to spark a Fifth Apocalypse, I had an old friend acquire the two remaining Void Genome Emulators."

"I don't know. Something about that feels off." Rowan changed his clothes behind a room partition painted with a scene of Mount Fuji.

"That's true," Haruka's dark brown eyes narrowed. "I've worked with Dr. Gespenst in the past and she didn't seem like she was completely invested in my brother's plans. However, we have to prepare for the worst."

Her brother being Keido Shuichiro, former Antibodies Chief turned President of Japan. Compelled by a one-sided competition with Haruka's husband, Ouma Kurosu to shape the future of human evolution, he was further influenced by the mysterious organization Da'at to unleash the Apocalypse by reviving Mana using Inori's body.

Rowan emerged from behind the partition. "From what I can gather, Lady Charlotte sounds like a wild card with her own personal motives."

Haruka's sandy brown curls bounced as she nodded. "Dr. Gespenst doesn't seem to be driven by curiosity like Makoto Waltz Segai, or envy like my brother. I know Shuichiro kept her around because of her skills, but he was always wary of her."

"She's enigmatic to say the least," Rowan added. "It just creeped me out how she always looked so calm yet so cruel. She had this dissonant serenity."

"And she does whatever she likes without a thought about the consequences."

* * *

><p>Daryl replaced his tattered yukata with a white t-shirt and a pair of slim fit blue jeans. Walking wearily through the Ouma ancestral home, he stroked his swollen cheek. The other pain, a gunshot wound underneath his bandaged shoulder, sizzled.<p>

He slid open the door to the living room where he found Ayase looking out at the dark ocean and the moonlit beach. He approached and sat on the windowsill. Minutes of stillness passed with only the sound of crashing waves between them.

"Are you willing to fight them?" Ayase broke the silence. Her post-shower burgundy hair lay wet and loose on her shoulders.

Her hands were folded primly over a small paper bag.

Moonlight gave Daryl's downcast eyes a pearly purple hue. "Aunt Charlotte has always treated me kindly and Alex is like a brother to me."

"Then what about Tsugumi and Shu?" she snapped. "Family isn't all about blood, you know. My friends have been my family since I was seven. I swear, even if it makes her cry, if you fail to save her again, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"I failed to save her," his pale blonde hair fell onto his face as he gripped the cold metal disc embedded into his chest.

The young woman opened the paper bag.

"She was going to give this back to you tonight," she held out a pair of white cashmere gloves. "I think she put a note in one of them."

Daryl drew a small piece of paper from one of the gloves and opened it. His amethyst eyes widened, looked confused then shut gently in quiet contemplation. The light on his chest sparkled a just a little brighter through his thin white shirt. His lips curved into a shy smile and quivered as he kissed the soft cashmere that smelled of ripe oranges.

"Don't worry, I didn't read it," Ayase blushed and felt uncomfortable watching him during such an emotional moment, but at least she finally understood what he truly felt for her best friend. "But if that crazy murderous part of you is still in there, we need him to fight for us."

The waves continued crashing, but there was a whirring sound in the distance that slowly made itself heard. Ayase and Daryl drew their guns at the same time and waited on opposite sides of the window.

A dark red and white chopper landed on the beach in front of the old house. Daryl crouched and ran stealthily to another window. He looked up at the large glass cabinet in the corner of the room from which he could see the scene outside reflected vaguely. He held out three fingers signifying that there are at least three people coming out of the helicopter. He cocked his silver GHQ-issued handgun.

"Haruka-chaaan! Aya-chaaan!" an energetic man's voice called from outside the house.

Ayase recognized the voice and answered, "Souta, is that you?"

Daryl shot her a look that said, _"What the hell are you doing?"_

She got the message and mouthed _"Trust me."_

"Aya-chan?" The man knocked on the sliding door facing the beach. "Yeah, it's me. I'm with Yahiro and Kurachi-san."

Ayase wheeled slowly towards the door, unlocked the door and pointed her gun at it. "Come in!"

The door flew open, but instead of Souta, a tall woman stood there with a gun. Daryl shot at her by instinct and the woman fired in return. His Void Genome Emulator shone brightly as he deflected all her bullets.

"Stop!" Ayase shouted, causing a ceasefire.

Kurachi pointed her gun down, but refused to holster it. Daryl understandably did the same. Souta and Yahiro carefully looked in and stared at the scene.

"Kurachi-san," Ayase moved closer. "I'm very sorry for the rude welcome." She turned to Daryl and spoke. "Ease up. They're our allies," she motioned the three to come in but none of them budged. "Daryl, this is Kurachi-san, Souta and Yahiro."

The blonde finally relaxed and put his gun down. Kurachi followed suit and crossed the hall.

"You're a fast shooter," she held out her hand and introduced herself. "Kurachi Yukina, former Undertakers agent."

"Daryl Yan," he put away his gun and shook her hand. "Former GHQ second lieutenant."

Souta followed suit and grabbed his hand without warning.

"Tamadate Souta, film director extraordinaire!"

Daryl snatched his hand away in disgust.

"Nice to meet you, too," Souta knitted his brows together.

Yahiro walked towards them and tried his luck at making acquaintance.

"Samukawa Yahiro," he offered his hand respectfully. "I'm Shu's friend."

Daryl didn't take the outstretched hand and simply asked, "What's your void?"

"The Shears of Life," Yahiro frowned and retracted his offer of amity. "It can sever life and kill instantly."

"The lady looks useful but what do we need these two for?" The blonde noted the man's long black business coat and dark green scarf. "Do you even know how to fight? You look like an accountant."

"I used to be a drug dealer. I've won a few brawls in my youth. Besides," the brunette smirked. "Shu knew nothing about fighting yet I hear that he sliced you up every single time. What does a spoiled brat who sits around controlling robots with his mind know about real combat?"

Daryl swung a punch at Yahiro and soon fists were flying between the two.

"Stop it, you idiots!" Ayase pulled Daryl away as Souta restrained Yahiro with Kurachi in between, forcefully separating the two boys. Soon Haruka and Rowan rushed in to catch the group in the middle of the heavy tension.

"What's going on here?" Rowan asked.

Daryl struggled to free himself from Ayase's grip and accidentally tipped her wheelchair over, sending her crashing downward. The room fell deathly silent. The young woman lay motionless on the wooden floor. Everyone could sense her seething with rage.

"Get out. Every single one of you," she pointed at the door. "GET OUT!"

The whole gang except Daryl made a run for it. When he attempted to help her up, Ayase slapped him across the injured side of his face. The pain on it tripled. He turned to complain, but instead he found her angry hazel eyes glaring up at him, overflowing with tears.

"I'm sorry," he apologized and walked away.

* * *

><p>They sat in a row on the edge of the porch waiting for Ayase to come out. White moonshine cast an eerie glow over the unusual group. Yahiro held an ice bag to his jaw next to Souta who was listening in on Kurachi discussing with her friend, Haruka. Rowan sat beside her, pressing an ice pack onto an unwilling Daryl's cheek.<p>

Haruka read the notes she took on her holographic table out loud.

"This is what we know so far: Doctor Charlotte Steiner Gespenst is the twin sister of Daryl's mother, Engineer Maria Steiner Yan, and widow of Charles Gespenst, a rich businessman who passed away back in 2039. She is a world renowned neurobiologist specializing in the brain-machine connection based on the theory of genomic resonance. She invented the Void Genome Emulator and is the only person in the world to successfully perform surgery to install it in a human being. She has one child, Alexander Gespenst, a former Tennozu High School student during the Loop 7 Quarantine."

She swallowed hard and remembered what she had the Ghost Unit do under her supervision during those horrible days.

"Just before the Fourth Apocalypse she abandoned GHQ. Recently, she re-entered the upper class social circles to make a deal with Genome Biotechnology, formerly Sephirah Genomics, to acquire two Emulators in their possession. Is this correct?"

"Initially," Yahiro clarified. "She didn't specify what she was after. Only when Tsugumi and I discovered that her son had hacked our system did she _graciously_ ask for my cooperation. When I refused, she attempted to eliminate me."

Kurachi, with her lustrous onyx hair, then relayed that she had used her influence to acquire the devices through an off-the-record loan from the heads of Genome Biotech.

"Don't tell anyone," Souta jokingly gossiped. "But the truth is, Granpa Kuhouin named Kurachi-san the true heir to the Kuhouin Group of Companies. Arisa is just a decoy to keep the board of directors from staking claim on the company. They'd rather let a teenaged blood relative be their boss than a mere personal assistant. Behind the scenes, it's Kurachi-san who really has the final say."

"Tamadate-san," the serious woman interjected. "That information is unnecessary. What else do we know about the son, Alexander. Does he have a dangerous void?"

"I doubt it," Daryl finally spoke up. "He's always been a shy kid. It's probably just a baseball glove or something."

"Even more inferior," Yahiro mentally recalled the data. "It was just a pen that couldn't even write. That's why we put him in Rank F." He turned to his short-haired buddy. "No offense."

"None taken! But wait!" Souta stood up. "I remember that guy! Looked like a shorter Daryl with the blackest black hair?"

"Yep," Daryl answered. "Except less good-looking."

"Do you have the old ranking database with you?" Souta shook Yahiro.

The former student council vice president clicked open his phone and pulled up the void ranking list.

"Look at this," Souta pointed at the genomic resonance reading for Alexander Gespenst.

"No way" Yahiro couldn't believe it. The number was 1989. "This should be a Rank S void!"

"Exactly, but you guys just brushed it off based on its assumed function. Shu suggested that it might be an error on the reader's part," he paused to collect his thoughts. "But you said that it could be an indication the he was infected."

Souta thought back on their days slaving away at the diving facility retrieving vaccines from a sunken ship.

"The Apocalypse Virus let me see other people's voids and his was unbelievable."

"What are you talking about, Tamadate-san?" Rowan politely asked.

"His pen wasn't meant to be used on paper," his voice growing grave. "It was meant to be used on people. With it, he can manipulate a person's memories. I can't tell to what extent he can do this, but all I know is that it really fucked up with his self-esteem and personality. The poor kid never knows which memories are his or not."

Daryl bowed his head and tried to absorb the information. _Manipulating memories? Why would Alex have a void like that?_

"If we only had the chance to put the pieces together earlier, we could have avoided all this," Yahiro regretted. "Another thing that worries me though is the presence of the enemy's nephew in our base of operations."

"What did you just say?" The former GHQ soldier ran to attack him and the rest of the gang made a scramble to keep them away from each other.

"I wouldn't trust you to watch my back, blondie!"

"Like I would care, brownie!"

"See?" Yahiro laughed. "We can't trust him to fight on our side."

"Boys!" Haruka addressed the two grown men. "We'll never get anything done if you can't get along!"

At that point, Ayase rolled herself out into the porch. She changed into her skin-tight scarlet red Endlave pilot plugsuit and tied her chestnut raspberry tresses into a high ponytail. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, but she wore a determined smile.

"We don't have to get along," she declared. "We just have to work together."

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 9: New Allies<p>

* * *

><p>Yeah! Three chapters to go! Next time on Sweet Rewards, our heroes get ready for battle and we take a peek behind enemy lines. Hohoho~! <p>

Love always,

Kinky Robot


	10. Chapter 10: New Battle

Woah. Long time to write, everyone. I've been very busy with my part-time job last summer, and then school came back around so I didn't have time to dish out new chapters.

Fanfic Recap: Eight years after the end of the series, Tsugumi and Daryl meet again and continue where their budding relationship left off. Learning of the danger Daryl was under due the Void Genome Emulator embedded into his chest, Tsugumi with the help of Shu, Ayase and Haruka convince him to visit his long-lost comrade, Rowan. But Daryl's aunt Charlotte and cousin Alex had different plans and took an orphan boy Ryo, attempted to kill Yahiro and Kanon, and during a summer festival in Oshima Island, also kidnapped Shu and Tsugumi. Haruka asks for her friend Kurachi, Arisa's assistant and a former Undertakers agent, to acquire three out of only six Emulators ever made. Kurachi, Souta and Yahiro arrive in Oshima to join the team, causing friction among Daryl, Yahiro and Ayase. Now, as they prepare to rescue Shu and Tsugumi, the three opposing personalities must set aside their differences to face a new battle.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: New Battle<p>

* * *

><p>Daryl boarded his yacht and headed for the control panel. He was in a hurry he couldn't help but stop as he entered the small room.<p>

_We were here just a half a day ago... Together._

He had to take a second to sit on a chair in front of the boat's steering wheel. He took out a piece of paper from his jeans pocket and read it again. Tsugumi had secretly slipped the note into the white gloves he lent her.

_Thanks for keeping me warm,_ the note said in loopy cursive handwriting.

"No, Tsugumi," he kissed the small piece of paper. "Thank you."

Daryl stood to look out into the marina. It was almost midnight and only a few fishing boats were left lit. Beyond that was the dark ocean. He remembered that way they kissed that night. How he felt for the first time in his tumultuous life that he could belong somewhere. That if he could hold her tiny body and in his arms and see her smiling up at him forever, it would be the sweetest reward.

But Alex took her away from him. Of all people, why him? He was like a little brother to him and one of the very, very few people he ever trusted.

With both anger and precision, he brought down the side of his fist on a marked corner of the hard plastic panel to reveal a hidden compartment. From it, he pulled out a gun holster belt with two types of combat pistols and two high-capacity bullet magazines. One clip was filled with thirty rounds of lethal full-metal bullets while the other contained smaller quick exploding bullets.

He loaded each magazine into its corresponding silver pistol then grabbed another item in the compartment: A custom-fit white Endlave plugsuit. He took off his shirt and pulled down his pants to step stark naked into the suit. The fabric clung to every curve and corner of his lean muscular body as he zipped up as quickly as possible.

* * *

><p>Tightly chained to a hard metal chair, Shu felt a tiny ventilation duct puffing out ice cold air behind him. His breathing fogged and his lips, toes and fingertips turned as blue as his teal cotton kimono. A single metronome endlessly ticked somewhere in the prison cell and its sound was a slow and even tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.<p>

It drove him to the edge of sanity.

He tried desperately to guide his thoughts to Inori's secret garden but it was much easier when he listened to her songs. The unnerving ticking made him recall nothing but the blood, doom and destruction leading up to her death. In his mind, she shattered into crystals over and over and over until it made him want to scream his lungs out.

He lived in constant fear of his own anger and regret. Putting on a brave face all this time, he was living a lie. Shu spoke to audiences of hundreds about courage in the face of adversity, when, the truth was, he never felt like a hero. He only felt like a loser who couldn't stop Inori from take the burden of the world with her. He was the one who was supposed to take it.

The heavy steel door creaked open before him and a young man walked in.

"I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, Ouma-san," Alex pulled up a chair and sat across him. He made no move to halt the maddening metronome on the small glass table between them.

"Please turn it off," his protest coming out from his dry throat in a rasping wheeze.

Alex twirled a beautiful fountain pen around his agile fingers.

"The human mind is surprisingly frail, isn't it?"

Shu bowed his head and closed his empty brown eyes. They were drying out from the cold.

"What do you what from me?"

"We simply need to borrow your power?"

"Voids don't exist anymore."

"Maybe not in the form you were used to wielding, Ouma-san," the raven-haired Daryl look-alike tilted his head back. "But the heart never forgets its true form."

Shu furrowed his brows in confusion, "I don't understand what you're trying to say. And even if voids still existed, what makes you think I would help you?"

"Oh you don't need to willingly agree to help us, Ouma-san. I have a way of making you cooperate. Plus, if you were to cooperate," Alex stopped twirling his pen.

"We can bring Yuzuriha Inori back to life for you."

Shu's blank eyes shot open as his heart's pace quickened.

"No! That's impossible!" He struggled in his freezing seat to be free of his bonds, and more importantly, to free himself of his muddled state. "Besides, I wouldn't want you to."

"You don't? Are you sure?"

The hero of the Fourth Apocalypse remained silent. His hot breath was shallow and erratic, fogging heavily into the cold. Alex could see that he succeeded in breaking Shu just enough to let him mess with his memories at near full capacity.

"You seem to be having a hard time making up your mind, Ouma-san."

Alex flipped his pen into the air and assumed a stabbing stance. The Void Emulator in his chest lit up as he caught the writing instrument and threw it straight into the King's Heart.

"Let me help you."

* * *

><p>At the Ouma beach house, Rowan was crouched to Ayase's side, installing wires from the Void Genome Emulator into a metal notch in the hip of her own red plugsuit.<p>

"So Rowan-san," Ayase asked while nervously retying her red hair into a ponytail. "Could you briefly explain how I'm going to make my void work?"

Rowan smiled kindly at her as he discussed.

"Well, Aya-chan, the entire plugsuit responds to your personal genomic resonance which links with and allows you to control your Endlave. This is possible through the Endlave's cybernetic response that takes a minimum emission of genomic resonance. What this Void Emulator I'm connecting to you does is to increase your void power output such that you'll be able to make a resonance link with any physical object and channel your void's power into it. Of course, not just any object will do. As a manifestation of your power, it should at least resemble the void's true form."

"I see. But I can't make the void physically manifest out of thin air like Shu could, right?"

"That's correct. The Apocalypse virus exteriorized and materialized the 'hearts' of the infected into a tangible form. The Void Genome Emulator is unfortunately more limited than the true Power of Kings. Channelling your void through this device involves physical contact, but you can also retain void power in an object for a few seconds even after throwing it."

"By the way, Aya-chan," Rowan got up and held his hand out to the girl in the wheelchair.

"Your void should activate all over your suit. That includes your legs."

Ayase's brown eyes lit up in surprise and her sudden burst of emotion made the Emulator blaze with light. She glanced down as red lines lit up across her plugsuit, then quickly looked up at Rowan, looking for confirmation in his eyes.

He pushed up his silver eyeglasses, smiled and nodded in reply.

"Hey, Rowan!" Daryl arrived and tapped his old comrade in the back. "What am I supposed—"

"Shhhhh!" The man in glasses interrupted him as he grasped both of Ayase's shaking hands. "Watch this."

Ayase first tried to wiggle her toes gently and gasped in astonishment when she found that she could do it. Her eyes blurred with tears as she stood up on her own two feet for the first time in eight years.

Now, it was Daryl's turn to feel awkward in the midst of such a personal moment in Ayase's life. Blushing, he turned away.

* * *

><p>Yahiro shouted in pain as Haruka carefully connected a wire to the nerves under the skin of his chest.<p>

"I'm very sorry Yahiro but please endure it." She plugged the other end of the wire into the Void Genome Emulator and it immediately glowed faint purple. She inserted the emulator into a small pouch which she strapped onto Yahiro's chest. She then handed him back his shirt and coat.

"Remember not to overdo it, okay? The way I installed and Emulator on you should give you enough void power to fortify the cutting power of any object but not at the capacity that Daryl can use his. Without a plugsuit and surgical implantation, you're only giving out at most half the genome resonance that he can."

"But, you have a very dangerous void, Yahiro," she warned as she packed up her tools. "When your light and your darkness collide, this forms what we call a 'void'. Your heart's true form, its most powerful weapon, draws its power from your greatest complex. Please be very careful when using it."

Yahiro strained to put his coat back on and replied through gritted teeth, "No need to worry Haruka."

"Alright, I'll leave you to rest a while." The voluptuous woman stood up and paced towards the door.

"By the way, Yahiro," she turned and looked at the family altar in the far corner of the room. "There's something under the family altar that you might want to bring along."

* * *

><p>Souta snapped away with his camera, taking photos of a happy Ayase cautiously walking across the porch and testing her legs.<p>

"Yeah! Just like that! Strike a pose for me, baby!"

"You pervert!" Ayase lunged after him, snatching his camera away.

"Hey, give that back!" He whined, trying and failing to grab it right back. "That's my livelihood you know!"

Rowan laughed heartily, "Hahahaha! Yes, yes, Aya-chan give it back or else we'll have nothing to open the top secret underground base with."

"WHAT?" The youngsters both exclaimed.

Daryl scoffed saying, "But he doesn't have an Emulator."

Kurachi stood up from quietly sitting by the edge of the porch and replied, "You can let someone use their void by touching them."

Haruka arrived carrying a quite a mysterious box in her arms that squished against her ample breasts.

"Indeed!"

She set the box down on the wooden porch and commanded, "Aya-chan, please hold Souta's hand, while you, my dear boy, try to open this box with your camera."

"Just like my void?" He looked at Ayase. The redhead shrugged and handed him his camera.

Instead of its normal flash and shutter click, the tiny digital camera released a burst of white light and a thundering electronic shutter sound. The box broke down to reveal a pair of roller blades.

"Excellent!" Haruka excitedly clapped her hands and picked up the skates. "These are for you, Aya-chan."

"Oh thank you, Haruka!" She balanced on one leg to slip the other into the skates.

"Were these Gai's?" Ayase asked. She couldn't imagine Shu on a pair of anything that went too fast.

"No, actually, those used to be Shu's. Believe it or not, he was the braver child when they were younger."

Yahiro came trailing behind her.

"No, I don't believe it," he smiled at their eclectic team.

* * *

><p>The intrepid explorers got through the high security gates protecting the former GHQ facility from intruders. The area used to be the stronghold guarding the valuable meteorite carrying the Apocalypse Virus which crashed in Oshima Island many years ago. Since being abandoned, the place became cold, creepy and very poorly lit.<p>

"Brrrr," Souta shivered. "This place is giving me the chills in more ways than one!"

"You don't say?" Daryl rolled his eyes and then spotted a figure standing in the end of a dark tunnel.

"Is that?"

"Shu!" Ayase called out.

The group started running towards him when a heavy steel barrier suddenly came down from the ceiling separating Haruka, Rowan and Souta.

"Souta, open the door!" Haruka knocked her fists against the barrier furiously, desperate to see her son.

"I can't! The ones with Emulators are all on the other side!"

Haruka slumped her body forward, pressing her tear-stricken cheeks against the thick barrier. Kurachi approached her dear friend and pried her away. She quietly cradled her in her arms.

Rowan took his coat off and wrapped it around Haruka's wavering shoulders as she continued to sob.

"Haruka," he the tears from her beautiful face. "Let's wait here. Ayase and Yahiro are on the other side. I'm sure they'll get Shu back to you as soon as possible."

"Daryl, too?" she asked Rowan, strands of her caramel curls matted against her wet cheek.

He tucked the stray locks away and cupped her chin with a gentle hand.

"Yes, Haruka. Daryl, too."

* * *

><p>Daryl and Yahiro tried to push the barrier up but it was locked tight. Ayase paid no mind to the sudden slam of the barrier and kept her eyes fixed on Shu. He was still wearing his yukata from the festival, but the collar hung low revealing a metal disc faintly shining on his chest.<p>

"No," Ayase stopped in her tracks. "What have they done to you?"

Daryl turned to look and was surprised at the Emulator in Shu's chest.

"That's impossible! How could you be standing! It took me a week to recover from the surgery wounds!"

Yahiro stepped forward and drew his swords. "There's only one void power that could have healed him that quickly."

"Yahiro," Ayase called out without averting her eyes. "Do you remember what Shu's power was?"

"The King's Heart," Yahiro stood beside her. "It allowed him to use voids borrowed from other people."

"Fuck," Daryl stood just behind them. "So if emulating voids is just about 'remembering the heart's true form' or something… You think it's possible that he can use any void he's used before?"

"He's looks different," Ayase observed.

"He definitely seems like he's not himself," Yahiro whispered.

"But it's Shu. I'm sure it is," she worriedly mumbled.

"I don't really care," Daryl removed his guns from the holsters on his suit. "I'm not going to let him get in my way."

Just then, Shu covered his face with his mechanical hand. The lines along this arm glowed from his elbow to the tips of his fingers. When he revealed his eyes, they were burning bright with a dark red hue.

"I think he can see us now," Ayase's voice quivered. "He channelled Kanon's void into his eyes."

"Things just got much more complicated," Yahiro muttered.

"Ha," Daryl smirked. "I think that just made things more interesting."

He knelt to touch the floor then fired his silver pistol. Shu easily deflected the bullets to the wall with a swipe of his katana, but instead of getting embedded into the thick cement, the projectiles ricocheted right back. The entire half-barrel space of the old tunnel glowed with a purple network of beehive barriers as Daryl conducted his void Kaleidoscope along its surface.

"No!" Ayase tried to stop him. "You'll kill him!"

"I'm just trying to knock some sense into him," he replied, not taking his focus off Shu. "I suggest you do the same."

Forming a barrage of bullets rebounding in an incomprehensible pattern, Daryl rapidly used up an entire thirty-round magazine. Individual hexagonal sections of the walls lit up as his void responded to each shot. Shu channelled Ayase's void into his legs and Inori's void into his sword to evade and slice each incoming bullet with his heightened speed. As he deftly slashed the last bullet, he poised himself to launch a counterattack.

"SHUUU!"

Before he could move forward, he shifted his weight to catch the real Ayase's void-infused kick with the flat side of his katana. The force of the kick sent Shu careening backward several meters across the concrete floor. Ayase turned her body before landing to throw several small knives at him. He quickly rolled out of the way and picked up a piece of debris. He fed void energy into the rock and hurled it at Ayase before getting back up on his feet.

Ayase, having just landed, barely had the time to react to the potentially damaging projectile approaching her. She twisted desperately to the side, with the deadly rock missing her face.

However, the void-powered rock cut the ponytail off her cherry brown tresses. When she spotted the long chunk of her carefully grown locks fall to the cold hard ground, Ayase ran her hands through her now short hair in panic, checking her scalp for any blood.

"Shu! Stop it!" she yelled frantically.

Shu rushed forward, aiming to take advantage of her moment of pleading, but sensed movement to his left. He leaped to the opposite direction and met Yahiro's double blades with his sword.

His old friend pleaded, "Snap out of it, Shu!"

The double blades were a pair of short swords passed down through the Ouma family. Ironically, or perhaps, fittingly, these kinds of blades were used in the samurai era for ritual suicides.

Metal met metal loudly as the two men exchanged blows and parries. Yahiro crossed his twin blades into the Shears of Life, locking down the katana. He dug in his heels and concentrated void power into his weapon, overwhelming Shu and pushing him back.

Shu jumped away from danger. Yahiro lost sight of him and the next thing he knew, he had pushed him from behind. He staggered and stumbled to the ground. It was a push much like the one he gave Shu from a metro train eight years ago.

"Now, we're even," Yahiro quipped before ducking out of the way as Daryl unleashed another rain of lead.

Shu flicked the katana with his mechanical hand to send razor sharp energy waves in the blonde's direction. At the same time, Ayase glided toward Shu with her lighting fast skates, launching herself up for a high velocity missile kick. He responded by grabbing her leg and using her speed against her. In one fluid motion, he slammed her to the floor.

Daryl's protective six-sided panels were annihilated in front of him, exploding before his eyes with flashes of white light and a familiar camera sound from the shock waves that opened up his Kaleidoscope. Realizing what had happened, he braced himself as the next few waves headed right for him.

Shu stood over Ayase, his eyes completely emotionless, blazing red with void power. When he raised his katana for the finishing blow, a cluster of reflected shockwaves boomeranged after him. He waved his sword in that direction to cancel out the force, sending a flurry of dust into the air.

Suddenly, Yahiro dashed out from the cloud, twin blades poised to strike. Shu messily swatted it with an upward slice that sent the large pair of shears flying off Yahiro's grip. Shu grabbed Yahiro's forearm and threw him down with a judo toss. He knocked Yahiro to the spot on the floor where Ayase should have been laying.

Ayase had gotten up while Shu was distracted and hit him with a blinding fast kick, throwing him against a wall. Ayase jumped up to catch Yahiro's wayward weapon in mid-air. From the side, Daryl immediately put up a Kaleidoscope barrier on her landing spot which served to propel her in Shu's direction with the Shears of Life in her hands.

She could have ended his life then and there, but a moment of doubt caused her to waver and miss the target. She couldn't do it. Shu recovered and brutally kicked her across the room with the same Athlete's Bracers that allowed her to fly.

The three fighters were pushed back to the same side of the tunnel from which they first arrived. Yahiro, his black coat covered in dirt, could barely stand as he endured the pain of his earlier impact with the floor. Ayase coughed out blood from Shu's powerful kick and the damage on her thin plugsuit revealed the skin on her thighs and arms.

Daryl stumbled back and slid down against the thick metal divider. He zipped open his white plugsuit halfway down his torso to relieve the burning sensation around his overheated Emulator. The agonizing gunshot wound on his shoulder throbbed as well.

Yahiro and Ayase both reached out to him.

"What do you want?" Daryl scowled up at his two allies.

Yahiro laughed. "Don't just sit there, blondie."

"He's right," Ayase added. "We have work to do, you idiot."

The former GHQ soldier's eyes widened as he realized that, for the first time in his life, there were people who truly needed him. He felt the heavy gate he was leaning on and thought about how Rowan waited from behind this door while Tsugumi waited from behind the other.

Daryl grasped the two outstretched hands to let his new friends help him back up on his feet. Finally, the unlikely trio set aside their differences and accepted that they must entrust their lives to each other. After all, war makes for strange comrades.

"Fine," Daryl grinned. "Let's go kick some ass."

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 10: New Battle<p>

* * *

><p>I had such a hard time describing fight scenes that I had to ask help from another writer, Mr. Sebastian Claide, who deserves a round of applause for all his helpful insights!<p>

Two chapters to go, guys! Hohoho~!

Love always,

Kinky Robot


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